Initiate Anakin
by 4gardiean
Summary: Anakin starts his life as an initiate in the Jedi temple when he is placed in one of the clans Part 2 of the will of the force.
1. Chapter 1

**39 BBY**

Turning around in bed Anakin can feel in the Force that a change is coming up and wonders if he and the his other crèche mates who turned three last year will be assigned to his clan or if they will be getting a new crèche mate something Anakin has always enjoyed when it happened. A silent clapping of hands has him turning around in his bed toward the door where he sees master Strahl standing.

"Time to get up younglings we have a long day ahead of us" Master Strahl says from the doorway and he can see the older younglings getting up while he walks around to check on the younger crèchelings who need his help to get ready for the day. He knew that after diner a few clan masters will arrive to take the younglings who are ready to join a clan to their assigned clan.

After getting out of bed Anakin takes his clothes from the end of his bed and quickly puts it on. When he is done he takes his boots from the floor to put them on and when he looks at them he is happy that the cleaning he did yesterday evening in the dark was done right. When he has put his boots on he checks if everything is in order before he walks out of the sleeping area into the main area where he walks up to master Strahl and asks

"Master, what will happen today?"

"What do you ask, Anakin? Did you feel something in the Force" Master Strahl asks confused and sees Anakin nodding in answer.

"Something will happen today. A change, I can feel it. What is it?" Anakin asks enthusiastically.

"Patience, Anakin, patience. You will see what the change is in the evening" Master Strahl says before shooing Anakin into the main room where Anakin is quick to join crèche mates but before they can start a game he hears master Strahl clearing his throat.

"Come on, younglings. We will eat our breakfast in the refractory" Master Strahl says to the joy of the younglings. It is not often that they are allowed eat with the other members of the order as they normally eat in the crèche refractories. Anakin and the older younglings each take the hand of one or two younger crèchelings before following master Strahl as he leads them to the refractory. To the crèchelings the trip feels long but it takes in fact but five minutes.

When they enter the refractory many knights, masters and Padawans are already present and enjoying their own breakfast. Following after master Strahl they move to the buffet where everyone takes one of the smaller tray before following in a line to select their breakfast. Anakin decides to take a sandwich with bacon and some vitamin cubes to satisfy Master Strahl as he isn't sure he has the time to eat fruit and master Strahl always insist that they eat everything on their tray. Anakin knows from their lessons that not everyone in the galaxy has enough food and thus that there are people who are hungry. This lesson they got when they were taking to much food and leaving some of it untouched. He knows that he wants to help those people when he is older.

Breakfast is a lively event as the entire crèche talks about what they want to do today when they are given the time to play and what exercises they think the masters have them do. After breakfast it is back to the main crèche room. They spend the morning playing with toys and listening to stories about Jedi and the order in itself after a short nap. After lunch they are taken to one of the crèche gyms where they can climb and play with balls after a group task where they have to move a ball around on a round sail. Anakin decides to join a group that wants to play with ball. They push the ball around in their group and are so lost in their game that it took them some time to hear master Strahl calling for them to stop and return to the crèche for their nap. Groans where heard all around but master Strahl just smiled and guided them back to the crèche and to their beds.

After a thirty minute nap the older younglings are awoken, Anakin among them. They all know to be silent and to let the others nap for another thirty minutes. Master Strahl uses this time to individually test the youngling's knowledge of the alphabet so that the clan masters will know at which level the younglings are with their understanding of it. In the meantime the others start with their art time, which Anakin uses to draw a bit. Later when everyone is awake the entire crèche has their art time after which it is time for diner in the crèche refractory.

After arriving in the refractory Anakin walks to the counter where a droid gives him a tray with his diner. It consists out of a Banta steak, beans and potatoes and a desert. When Anakin is done eating his diner he looks around and sees Master Strahl talking into a comlink which confuses him as the master never talk into a comlink during diner.

"Anakin, what's wrong?" Tru Veld, a friend of Anakin asks when he sees the confused look on his friends face.

"Did you see master Strahl talking into a comlink? He never does that and I don't know what is going on for him to do so now" Anakin answers.

"I don't know, but if it is important master Strahl will tell us" Tru answers and just when Anakin wants to say something master Strahl claps his hands so the younglings look to him.

"Alright younglings, return your trays to the counter. We need to go back to the crèche as a few masters will be arriving soon and I have something to tell you all" master Strahl says and the younglings follow his instructions before the older younglings take the hands of the younger ones and they walk back to the crèche. After arriving in the main room of the crèche master Strahl mentions for everyone to sit down on the floor.

"You all know that some of you are old enough to join one of our clans" master Strahl says when everyone sat down on the floor and sees the younglings nodding before explaining "Soon a few clan masters will arrive and take those of you who are old enough to your new clan thus when I call your name you will go to the sleeping area to pack your belongings in the backpack that has already been placed on your bed. After you finish packing you will come back to the main room with your backpack on your back to wait for your clan master to call you and to go to the clan rooms" Then master Strahl starts to call the name of the younglings who will be joining a clan.

Anakin stands up when he hears his name being called and walks to the sleeping area to do as master Strahl said. Looking at his bed he sees a backpack lying on it. Walking to his trunk which stand at the foot of his bed, Anakin takes his robes out and puts them on his bed before taking his underwear and socks out of it. Packing takes a bit of time as it doesn't fit at first try so he has to unpack everything and repacking it after changing the order of packing. A short while later he is finished and closes the backpack. Putting it on his back Anakin suspects that he will have to return the backpack when he has unpacked in his new clan's sleeping area. Arriving back in the main room sees two unknown masters talking to master Strahl. Seeing the other younglings who were called Anakin walks up to them and nervously waits with them for the masters to turn towards them and call them towards them. The masters turn to them when the last youngling is back from packing their belongings.

"Younglings, this are master Nagia, master Natsu and master Mia" Master Strhal introduces a yellow Zabrak female, a Human male and a Cathar female. "Master Nagia will start with calling the younglings who are assigned to the Bergruutfa clan, after which master Natsu will call the younglings who are assigned to the Squall clan. The younglings who are left are assigned to the Hawkbat clan and will go with master Mia" master Strahl explains to the younglings how the clan assignment will go.

"Thank you, master Strahl for the introductions. Now would the following younglings come towards me? Inulu, Jicho La, Alioli Millea, Anakin Skywalker and Alaara Vanee" Master Nagia says.

Anakin walks towards Master Nagia when she stopped talking. He knows the other younglings who will be his clan mates but is not particularly close to them. Anakin feels sad that Tru will not be with him in the same clan but he hopes to see him again when they are older. When all five younglings have gathered before master Nagia they look at each other wondering what they should do now.

"Come younglings, let us get to the Bergruutfa's clan main room where you can meet your other clan mates" Master Nagia says and walks out of the crèche towards the clan's main room after the younglings made a line. The younglings follow closely behind her. They walks towards the turbolift which takes them a level higher to the area where the Bergruutfa clan rooms are located.

Arriving in the main room a while later Anakin sees a female human padawan sitting on the floor with five younglings around his age before her. He is not sure how old she is but Anakin suspects that she is almost mature. When the padawan sees them entering she stands up and says

"Master, welcome back. We just arrived from the crèche"

"Thank you padawan for picking the other younglings up" master Nagia tells the padawan before mentioning to the sitting younglings saying

"Younglings, go sit with your clan mates"

The younglings join the others on the ground and wait for master Nagia to join them. They don't have to wait long before she sits down before them and says

"Let's tell everyone our name before telling a bit about ourself and going to the sleeping area where you can unpack your backpacks and ready yourself for bed. My name is master Nagia and I will be your clan master"

"My name is Ninala and I'm master Nagia's padawan as I'm sure you all suspected" padawan Ninala introduces before looking at Anakin and asking

"Youngling, will you tell us your name? Then everyone else can tell us their name when it is their turn"

"I'm Anakin Skywalker" Anakin says.

"I'm Hoshi Chiinos" a male Iktochi says.

"I'm Inulu" a green skinned female Mirialan with red hair and violet eyes says.

"I'm Jicho La" a grey skinned male Nautolan with black eyes says.

"I'm Alioli Millea" a female human with red hair and green eyes says.

"I'm Alaara Vanee" a yellow skinned female Togruta with blue eyes and blue markings on her Lekku says. She also has white markings on her skin around her eyes and on the cheeks.

"I'm Zak" a yellow skinned male Mirialan with brown hair and blue eyes says.

"I'm Erigian Tinwhe" a male human with black hair and brown eyes says.

"I'm Shi Aro" a red skinned female Kel Dor says. Anakin sees that she is wearing a breathing mask and eye goggles.

"I'm Batom Lirlu" a red skinned male Togruta with orange eyes and orange markings on his Lekku says. He also has large white markings around his eyes.

Afterwards they talk a bit about themselves before master Nagia show them to the sleeping area and their new beds. They are told to unpack their backpack, put their belongings in the trunk before their bed and put the empty backpacks near the door before reading themselves for bed something which master Strahl had taught them how to do that last year. Tomorrow master Nagia will tell them how the days are structured and which lessons they will get.

* * *

In my universe there are multiple small crèches in the Order so that the crèche masters can give enough attention to the younglings under their care. The crèche have a maximum of thirty younglings.


	2. Chapter 2

"Good morning, younglings" master Nagia says when Anakin and his clan mates leave the novice sleeping hall ready for their first day in the clan. With them some older younglings leave their own sleeping hall. All the younglings gather in the middle of the room around Master Nagia and wait for her to tell them what they will do now that new novice clan mates joined the clan.

Anakin, standing with the other younglings around master Nagia, wonders what their days will look like as the crèche had everyday planned out what they would do and when. He hopes they will go to the refractory as he is hungry and suspects everyone else is also hungry. He is sure that the older younglings are also his clan mates as they come from one of the rooms connecting to the main room and wonders if their day will look different than his. He is not sure if they will all have lessons together ad suspect that they will have few lessons together.

"Alright, now that the entire clan has gathered we can go to the refractory to eat breakfast and then the novices, those who padawan Ninala and I brought here from the crèche yesterday, will come back with me to the main room where I will be explaining to them how their days will look like for the next three years and explain the rooms that are open to them. Also I will explain to them the organization of the clan. The others will go to their own classes" master Nagia tells the younglings. The clan then leaves the main room to go to the refractory before a new day of learning starts. Arriving in the refractory they form a line before the counter and there Anakin takes some bread with cheese and beacon, and a glass of milk. Looking around the refractory Anakin sees that padawan Ninala and some of his clan mates sit at a table on the left side of the room. Walking towards the table Anakin sits down on one of the empty chairs and starts eating his breakfast. When he is finished eating breakfast he talks to Shi and Batom about their expectations for the day. They all are excited about learning how to use the Force and clan life in general. Soon master Nagia calls their attention to her and says

"Alright younglings, breakfast is over. Return your plates to the counter. Juniors go with padawan Ninala to your class, seniors go with padawan Muln and novices will go with me back to the clan main room"

The clan quickly follows her instruction and soon the juniors and seniors are moving towards their classes while the novices go with master Nagia to the main room.

Arriving in the main room the younglings sit down on the ground in the middle of the room after master Nagia mentioned for them to do so.

"Alright younglings, I will begin with explaining you about the organization of the clans and the rooms you can use. If you have a question I want you to remember the question and ask it once I finished my explanation. Do you all understand?" Master Nagia says after she sits down on the ground before the younglings.

"Yes, master" the younglings answer as one.

"Each clan is divided in three groups which are called novice, junior and senior. Novices are generally three to five years old, juniors six to eight years old and seniors are nine and ten years old. Every six months you take a test for each class you have to determine how much you have learned and if you scored high enough you can get material someone older than you has to study or you can enter lessons for juniors or seniors depending on the group you are currently in. When you are five years old you will take a test to get a final score for a subject or to get a score for a specific part of a lesson which you will also have as a junior. The same goes for when you are eight and ten. But when you are ten years old each of you will take the initiate trials, if you want to know more about it I suggest you ask the seniors about it as they were given information about it. The younglings who pass will move to the initiate dorm and be ready to be chosen as a padawan. Those who fail will either choose to leave the order or join one of our service corps. Does anyone have a questions?" Master Nagia asks while looking at the group before her which has been listening to her with attention. When a hand is raised she says

"Yes, Inulu. What do you want to ask?"

"Are the tests the same" Inulu asks.

"You want to know if they are equally important" Master Nagia asks and sees the heads of the younglings nodding "the tests you take every six months are not as important as those tests you take when you are five, eight and ten. Still I want you to remember that that does not mean you should not do your utmost best on them as they are important for getting a good score on the tests you take when you are five, eight and ten years old. Do you all understand what I said" master Nagia says and when the younglings nod she asks "Any more questions?" When she does not see another hand being raised she starts explaining the rooms they can use.

"The room we are now in is the clan's main room and used for having some lessons, studying after your lessons and for playing. The main room can be used by the entire clan and the order expects you to assist each other as much as you can. The room you all slept in last night is the novice sleeping hall, the door left of yours is the sleeping hall for the juniors and left of them is the sleeping hall for the seniors. The halls are only for the group sleeping in it and others can only enter another sleeping hall with permission of myself or a master helping out. The bathroom is communal, thus for the entire clan, and can be found behind the door on the right side of your sleeping hall door. You are expected to shower before going to bed, the boys showers are on the right side of the door and the girls on the left side. Either padawan Ninala and myself or a helping master and padawan will be in the bathroom to assist and watch that no one misbehaves" master Nagia explains before asking "any questions?" When no one raises their hand she continues onto the other matter she has to explain to the younglings.

"Now, the last thing I have to explain to you all is how your days will look like from now on and the classes you will take for the next three years. It is not expected that you remember the time of the classes as I will remember it and guide you to the classrooms or a padawan or another master will do so, but it is expected that you do your best to remember it as an exercise in remembering which will help you also with your lessons.

In the morning from seven thirty till eight you have time to ready yourself for the day and from eight till nine is time for breakfast. From nine till ten fifteen you have beginning force lessons, which is split in breathing exercises and force use, and from ten thirty till eleven thirty you have jedi philosophy. From eleven thirty till twelve you have time to play. Twelve till one is time for lunch and from one till two you have reading and writing. From two fifteen till three fifteen you have mathematics, from three thirty till four thirty you have Jedi history and traditions. From four forty five till five forty five you have galactic basic standard, which will focus on speech and words for the first year before starting on grammar. From five forty five till six you have free time which you can use to play or to study. In the beginning we will discuss what exercises your instructors gave you so we plan when to study what and when you can play. From six till seven you is time for diner and from seven till nine you have physical training. Around nine thirty it is expected that you all are in bed asleep as you have to get up at seven thirty the next morning.

On Saturday and Sunday your days are different than on Monday till Friday as you then have only the lessons from the morning and evening and not the classes from the afternoon" Master Nagia explains before asking again if there are any questions and sees Shi raises her hand.

"Yes, Shi. What is your question?" Master Nagia says.

"What will we learn?" Shi asks and the other younglings nod in agreement as they all want to know what they will learn during the classes they have.

"Your instructors will explain everything to you today when you start with your first lessons, so be patient younglings" Master Nagia says before asking again if there are questions when Anakin raises his hand.

"Yes, Anakin" master Nagia says.

"When do we start with our lessons?" Anakin asks excitedly and he can feel that the others are also getting excited at the thought that they will soon start to learn how to be a jedi.

"Calm down, younglings so we can begin your first meditation lesson if there are no more questions" master Nagia says. No one asks a question as they all want to get started as soon as possible. Master Nagia smiles at the younglings before saying

"Well then let's get started as I'm sure that you all suspect that you normally would have meditation lessons at this time, right?" the younglings nod to show that they all suspected that they normally would have a lesson in meditation during the time of master Nagia's explanation "During the fifteen minutes between lessons the master or padawan accompanying you will remind you to practice your meditation after arriving in the room where you will have your next lesson. During meditation lessons we will start firstly with a lecture about a new subject you will be practicing during the lesson or you will be asked questions about a subject that was explained to you during an earlier lesson. This means that I want you to play close attention to lectures given to you" master Nagia explains.

"Yes, master" the younglings answer.

"Now than, we will begin with practicing your first breathing exercise which will form the basis to learn to meditate correctly. I want you to close your eyes and calmly breathe in deeply through your nose and breathe out through your mouth. You need to only pay attention to your breathing" master Nagia says and the younglings follow her instruction. Not much later the room is silent except for the sound of breathing filling the air. After a few minutes Anakin can feel his concentration starting to falter and he starts to look around the room.

"Keep your attention on your breathing" master Nagia says as she sees Anakin and a few other younglings losing their concentration and starting to do other things. After a few minutes she calls a stop to the exercise and asks

"Why do you think you all were unable to keep paying attention to your breathing the entire time of the exercise?"

The younglings become silent as they think about it and when a hand goes up, master Nagia says

"Yes, Erigian"

"Because it is not possible to do it for a long time" Erigian says.

"That is not true, Erigian. Focusing on your breathing and also mediating can be done for thirty minutes or even for hours on end. The reason why you were all unable to stay focused was because a mind will naturally wander and it is a challenge to keep your attention on your breathing or a task for a long time. You all need to learn how to stay focused which can only be done if you practice enough. Meditation itself is a practice in self-discipline, which you all just started to learn, and helps you gain inner peace. What it all means will be explained to you in later lessons" master Nagia explains before standing up and saying

"This will be the end of your first meditation lesson. Now it is time I bring you to your next class"

The younglings stand up and follow master Nagia as she guides them to their next lesson. This marked the beginning of their journey to become a jedi.


	3. Chapter 3

_Friday evening_

Currently the Bergruutfa clan is readying themselves for bed. Anakin is putting his pajamas and he has to think back on his day. It was a busy day with the six month tests that were taken today so everyone was tired. Tomorrow master Nagia will talk with each of them about their scores and how to improve their weaknesses so that the scores will be better next time the tests are taken. It also helps to limit the time someone has to spend catching up with their clan mates. Considering the lessons Anakin thinks back to the tests they had. With force training their understanding and performance of the breathing exercises they were taught since the last six months was tested. The test, as Anakin learned from the previous one, are individually taken. Thus there were multiple masters present so that everyone could take the test today. Anakin was tested by master Windu and he found him really strict but also kind with asking a question differently if he didn't understand what was asked. Anakin hopes that he has a better score than at the previous test as he barely passed it, in fact his score was exactly what the six month norm was. Master Nagia had said during the talk about his last scores that he has to learn how to sit still for a time and he has been working on it with master Nagia by slowly increasing the time he sits still. Anakin thinks he has been getting better at it as he could sit still for five minutes now but knows that he will get the answers tomorrow. During that time they also had to show in a group how high they could push a feather and also he and Alaara had to show how good they were with force pull by taking master Yoda on in a pull contest. The other younglings were also paired and had to do the same with another master. This was always the favorite part of the tests and most looked forward to by Anakin and his clan mates. Anakin and most of his clan mates got a lecture on how jedi were to be calm and thus not so excited about a test by master Windu. Still Anakin was among the group in his clan who could push a feather the highest but with pull it is difficult to tell as that was taken against a master so he couldn't tell how good he was because he can't tell how strongly master Yoda pulled back.

After the force tests they had tests on Jedi philosophy where they had to say the Jedi code and their understanding of the code was tested. Anakin found it the most difficult part of the day as it was one of the most boring lessons they had thus the test were also boring. Still Anakin made sure to do his utmost best so that he could finish this class as soon as possible. With reading and writing they had to fill out a flimsy and read a short story for a master. Anakin was certain that he would get a good score as during the lessons they had had a lot of practice during the lessons and master Nagia had given them practicing stuff during the weekends which they had to give to their reading and writing master on Monday at the beginning of the class, something which she always reminded them about.

During the math tests they had to solve simple questions which were also practiced a lot during the lessons and in the weekends just as was done with reading and writing. Anakin was sure he would get a good score because of the practice and he found it easy to solve the questions he was asked. He hopes that he will get more difficult questions next year so that he will be less bored during the lessons. With jedi history and traditions their understanding of the subject was tested by asking questions about the parts of history and the specific traditions that were covered the last six months. Anakin and Alaara found these lessons interesting as they learned about the jedi and their history. The traditions were not as interesting as they never had participated nor seen a tradition thus they could not get a picture about it. Master Rancisis had told them after the tests were done that they would start watching traditions next year if their scores with high enough and also that they would go on trips through the temple to see monuments and other jedi historic objects. It is also meant to teach them the layout of the temple something which they have to know by heart when they are moving to junior level. Anakin hopes he got a high score as he wants to see the traditions so that he will know what they were exactly and how they looked.

During their galactic basic standard test they had to explain words to the master testing them at which time their speech was also tested. The master that was testing him this time was master Plo Koon who was really patient and kind to Anakin. Master Plo Koon has been teaching them this class and is one of Anakin's favorite master. Whenever Anakin had trouble with something he could always ask master Plo Koon for help and he always gives it even if it is just telling him to think back to what he explained. With physical training they had multiple test as they were taught multiple things during the class with breaks of fifteen minutes after thirty minutes. The first test was swimming were they had to swim a parkour with clothes and swim clothing on. Anakin found it easy as they had done this a lot during the lessons. He hopes he passed it as it will mean that he can be alone in deeper water when they are allowed to play in the pool room. The second test was climbing on a climbing wall as fast as possible which was as much a test as a competition between the clan mates as they all want to be the first to reach the top. Anakin believes that he will have one of the highest scores from his group as he saw that almost all of his clan mates still had to reach the top while Erigian and Jicho and he were already on the top. The third and final test was running two rounds around the exercising room which was really exhausted as they all were already tired from the other tests. Thus at the end everyone was ready to drop to the ground but they all followed master Nagia back to the clan room where they quickly showered and moves to their sleeping hall. There they already themselves for bed and that is how Anakin reached his current position of lying in his bed while his eyes are dropping closed. Hearing padawan Ninala sing a lullaby the entire room is soon fast asleep.

* * *

 _Saturday afternoon_

The entire Bergruutfa clan is playing in the main room when master Windu and Giiett arrive and move toward master Nagia. Anakin sees them talking with each other for a few minutes before master Nagia calls the clan to her. She waits for the entire clan to sit down on the ground with the youngest closest to her and the oldest furthest away from her saying

"Yesterday you all had your six month tests and now that master Windu and Giiett are here we will talk with every one of you about the scores you got. Novices will talk with master Windu about the scores, juniors will talk with myself about the scores and seniors will talk with master Giiett about the scores. When one of us is talking with one of you we expect everyone else to continue with what you were doing before I called you just yet"

"Yes, master Nagia" the clan answers as one before master Windu calls Shi to him and master Nagia and Giiett also call a youngling to them. The others go back to what they were doing before master Nagia called them to her.

* * *

An hour later master Windu calls Anakin to him. Anakin firstly puts his drawing supplies back in the box they are supposed to be in before standing up and walking to the back of the main room where master Windu is waiting for him. He sits down on the chair and fiddles with the his tunic because he feels nervous about some of his scores as he wants to know if they are better than before

"What is wrong?" master Windu asks when he notices Anakin's nervous behavior and scared force presence.

"Nothing, master" Anakin says but master Windu then tells him

"Jedi do not lie, Anakin. Now, you can tell me what is bothering you"

"I'm nervous about some of my scores, master. I've been working on getting them better and I hope that I succeeded" Anakin answers.

"That is a good thing to do as jedi plan for success first" master Windu says before putting a data card in the datapad that lied before him on the table. He reads it a bit before looking Anakin in the eye and saying

"Your score for the understanding of breathing techniques is good. The score for your use of those exercises are acceptable and if you continue with practicing sitting still as I read you and master Nagia have been practicing, I'm sure you could get a good score with the next test as I can see improvement since your last test. Your scores for use of the force is good as you could push the feather high and pull strongly during what you younglings call the pull contest. With force use you belong to the top of your clan group. Your score for understanding of the jedi code is good as are your reading and writing scores. Your math score are so good that you will get more difficult questions besides the questions your clan mates will get. With how fast you finished the test and that everything you filled out was correct, your math instructor believes that the more difficult questions will keep from getting bored and keep you challenged. Now to Jedi history and traditions. Do you like that class, Anakin?"

"Yes master, I really like it" Anakin answers to master Windu's question.

"That can be seen in your score, as you are here also in the top of your group. Your speech score is good as you can tell clearly what you want to tell. Your understanding of words is also average and similar to what most of your clan mates got. You passed your swimming test which means that you will be allowed to enter the deeper waters in the pool area. Your climbing score is very good and here you are in the top three of your clan. Your running test score is also good. Now I want you to tell me what this all means" master Windu tells Anakin who thinks back to everything the master said and after some thinking he says

"It means that almost all my scores are good and my score for the use of the breathing exercises is getting better. My math score is so good that I will be getting more difficult questions. And I had a really good climbing score. It means that I did well"

"That is right. Do you know what you have to do during the next six months?" Master Windu asks and Anakin knows the answer instantly so he answers quickly.

"I have to do my best during the next six months so that my scores stay the same or get better. I also have to continue practicing sitting still as you said. Master Nagia already told me that it would take time for me to lean to sit still and that I would have to expect that it will take between one and two years before I get good scores on using breathing exercises"

"That is right. Tomorrow are classes for those who have to catch up on matters so that they will have as little as possible catching up to do. Considering your scores you don't need to go to any of them if you don't want to. That time you can use to learn something on your own or to train a bit. Tomorrow master Nagia will remind you of it and then you will have to make a decision if you want to go there or not. Now you should go back to what you were doing before and Monday the lessons start again" master Windu explains and Anakin stands up to continue drawing after master Windu is do explaining.


	4. Chapter 4

**38 BBY**

A few minutes before eleven during their jedi philosophy lessons the younglings feel master Nagia entering the room. Anakin wonders at the reason for her being here as their lesson will take another half an hour. Still he also has to wonder when they will get their first lightsaber training as he believes that now that they are four years old they will start with lightsaber training. His entire group has been excited about it as a new year of learning has started today. The last two days where spend the celebrating of a new year. They are alway free of lessons on those days which they spend playing and relaxing. He had spent some time with other younglings in the room of a thousand fountains playing. He also enjoyed swimming with the older younglings, padawans and masters. It was one of the things he enjoyed mostly of the two free days.

"Younglings, as you have noticed master Nagia is here. She will now take you your first lightsaber training. I'm sure you wonder why this lesson doesn't take as long as you're used to. The reason for that is that you have learned enough that the lessons can be shorter from now on and you need an hour of light saber training. Now that this lesson has ended you go with master Nagia to your next lesson" Master Poof says and mentions for the group to move to where master Nagia is waiting for then. The younglings do so and are soon on their way to the training rooms where they arrive after a five minute walk. In the room Anakin sees master Giiett waiting for them.

"Hello, master. I have brought you the next group for lightsaber training" master Nagia says when she walks into the room.

"Thank you, master Nagia, for bringing the younglings here. Younglings, go sit on the ground in halve a circle" master Giiett says and waits for master Nagia to have left the room to start with the lesson.

"Now, before you start to use a training saber we need to make some rules" Master Giiett begins and takes his light saber from his belt "each of the training sabers is a smaller and weaker version of mine. So you don't put your eye above the exhaust nor point it to anyone else. That can cause serious injuries. You will get one warning as long as no one gets wounded or you will no longer be welcome in my class for the rest of the week or the full next week. Am I Understood?"

"Yes, master" the younglings answer and they all grab a training saber from the wall behind master Giiett when the master mentions for them to do so. Anakin is careful to avoid breaking the rules master Giiett explained just yet to them as he wants to follow the lessons. He can tell that his clan mates are doings the same.

"Go stand around the room while at the same time making sure that you have enough space to move. An arm wide is enough" Master Giiett says and when he sees confuses looks he smiles and explains

"Spread your arms and when you don't touch each other arms, you have enough space to move"

The lesson is spent with instructions on how to handle a lightsaber and explanations on the Body Target Zones though he says that that they won't have to use it for some time. How long that will be is not known to the younglings. They are also taught the ready stances on which further lessons will be built.

After the lesson the day goes on as normal. Still most of the younglings, Anakin included, keep expecting another chance in their lessons which does not happen.

* * *

A few months later Anakin and his clan mates are talking before their jedi instructor arrives to teach the next lesson. They discuss the traditions they saw last week which are still a major point of conversation as it made them better understand the lessons and showed them how important it is to really understand the traditions. One such tradition was a knighting ceremony where they could see the knight give his padawan braid to his former master to show respect and gratitude. This morning master Nagia had told them about the situation on Shadda-Bi-Boran. The planet was destroyed when the star became a supernova. It killed all the people as they could not live somewhere else. It saddened the whole clan but also explained the pain they had felt in the force. That pain was from the dead of all the people who were on the planet when the star became a supernova. Those who managed to get off planet died separately and thus they had not felt their deads. Anakin looks up from his musing when he feels master Rancisis entering the room.

"Good afternoon, younglings. Today we will go on a trip through the temple during the lesson" master Rancisis says and the younglings move in line behind him. They do so as that is always expected from them when they are walking through the temple. When everyone is standing in line master Rancisis starts moving through the temple and occasionally asks a question to see if the younglings know where they currently are or have been. Anakin makes sure to pay close attention to where they are moving so that he knows how to find the areas on his own. It is difficult and he gets confused from time to time. Thus he decides to go on trips on his own after bedtime so that he can learn the layout of the temple better. When they arrive before the archive master Rancisis tells them

"This is the archive. Inside the archive there will be no running nor screaming. It is a place of learning. We will be entering the archive through the First Hall. Here you can find records of philosophy, manuscripts of republic history and personal journals of many jedi. I want you to remember this and what you can find in the other halls as you will need to know where to find records for any research you will have to do for your current and future classes. In the beginning we will help you with finding everything but there will be a time where you will have to do it on your own. So if you know where to find information on your own it will help you a lot"

Master Rancisis then moves into the hall. Anakin can see statues along the side. He wonders who these people are, but suspects that that are other jedi based on the clothing he can see them wearing. But as to why they would have statues Anakin doesn't know. He also sees that beneath each statue is a plate with writing on it. Walking towards one Anakin sees that it show the name and some of the things the jedi has done. He appears from the information to be an important person. Looking back to where his clan was Anakin sees that they have walked further and are waiting there. He can see master Rancisis moving towards him.

"Don't wander from your clan, youngling" master Rancisis scold gently and takes Anakin's hand in his to take him back to the rest of the clan. He knows that this is bound to happen a few times today as younglings are naturally curious and he hopes he can minimize it as much as possible. When he gets back to the clan, who he watched through the force so that he knows if another youngling walks away from their clan, he places Anakin back on the place he has been waking at before. Then they can finally move to the Rotunda. They arrive there a short while later. Master Rancisis moves the clan to the middle of the left side of the Rotunda as seen from the first hall where he says

"Now we are at the Rotunda you all can see the entire archive. The Rotunda is the central point of the archive from where you can get access to all the halls. The hall to my left is the second hall and here you can find mathematical and engineering science data. Also you can find the floor plans of the galaxy's government buildings and other points of interest here. Another thing you can find there is the information on temple activities" master Rancisis says while pointing the mentioned hall "Opposite of the first hall you find the third hall. Here you can find data about geography and cultures of the Galactic republic. Also this hall contains the starmaps of interstellar and planetary regions and detailed analysis on specific civilizations. At the end of this hall are turbolifts to the analysis wing and library. Opposite the second hall you can find the fourth hall where you can find research data about every know specie of flora and fauna. The second and fourth hall also have access points to the holocron vaults, which can only be entered by a member of the high council"

Master Rancisis looked around the clan and sees that not all younglings have been paying attention to what he said. He then says

"I can understand that it is a lot of information and that you don't understand what some of the words I used mean. That you will learn in time. If you have any questions about the archive you can ask them now"

"Is there a place where we can work here? Erigian asks. This question provokes a lot of interest among the younglings as they are all curious to the answer. This will allow them to look for more information if they don't understand something and the masters don't have time to explain it.

"There are study halls here for research that takes days to finish. When you go on missions with your master after being chosen as a padawan, you will get mission briefings in these rooms from the chief librarian. You won't be allowed to use these rooms until you are thirteen years old and then you need permission form your master or an instructor to get access. The places where you can do that always are the working areas in the halls" master Rancisis explains. For the next five minutes he answers other questions the younglings asks before he continues with his trip. They have more places to look at and will have to be back in class before their next lessons starts. During the remainder of the trip Anakin makes sure to pay attention to where they are going so that he can find his path later on his own.

* * *

 _The next day_

After breakfast padawan Ninala is walking them to their first lesson of the day, beginning force lesson. They were told yesterday by master Koth that they would start on force control today. Everyone is highly excited as they want to know what they will learn. Last year the aspects of the force where discussed during jedi philosophy and now they will get their first experience with a different field. They had spent last year mostly on the common years of the force.

Arriving at the classroom Anakin can already see master Koth waiting for them. The younglings all move towards their plans and sit down. Before master Koth starts with the lesson everyone is talking to each other. A few minutes later master Koth clears his throat and the room is silent in a second.

"Today we will start with force control. The first power you will learn from the control area is force speed. First we will go over force control itself and then I will explain force speed to you all. Practicing it will be something we will do during tomorrow's lesson" master Koth says and they spend the entire class on the subject of force control and force speed.

* * *

Six months later the next tests are taking and a year from now the next ones. Anakin gets good scores from both of them and his meditation got even better than it was last year. Zak is among those who have trouble with lightsaber training and now that they have free time Anakin is helping him to get better at it. It is something Anakin enjoys as he likes helping others with their troubles or problems. He feels then that he is doing something important.

"That's good, Zak. You are getting the hang of it. Keep it up" Anakin says when he sees Zak execute a sequence the right way. They spend the remainder of their free time practicing it until master Nagia calls them for diner. They hurry towards their group before the younglings are moving towards the refractory for today's diner.


	5. Chapter 5

**37 BBY**

The novice bergruutfa clan is being led to their next lesson by master Nagia. Today they started with a new year of lessons and Anakin has to wonder if they will start to learn something entirely new and not a new way of meditating or pull or push exercise. Even though it is interesting, it still gets a bit repetitive after a few years of doing that. Anakin knows that if he didn't want to get good scores he wouldn't pay as much attention as he does. Most of the clan are either whispering to each other or daydreaming and master Yoda has to call them to get them to pay attention to their class. He also knows that after this year their group will be raised to the junior level, but they have to get passing scores to be allowed to raise a level with the group. Because of this Anakin intent to pay close attention in the lessons to make sure he is allowed to join the other when his group rises to junior.

Looking to his right side Anakin sees Shi walking next to him. He has started to notice that his clan siblings always look after Shi and that Shi also does that for each of them. Anakin wondered why they do that. Thinking about everyone's behavior Anakin also has to think about the way Shi reaches out to one or all of them when something is bothering him. It is really strange and Anakin wants to ask a master about it but doesn't know how to explain it.

Arriving at the classroom where they get their Force training Anakin notices that everyone has stopped and master Nagia has turned around facing them.

"Today younglings you will have a lesson from master Che. You will get your first lesson in force healing. Starting today you will have this lesson every Monday and Tuesday until Friday you will have your regular force training. Do you understand what I said, younglings?" master Nagia asks the younglings before her.

"Yes, master Nagia" the younglings answer as one before looking at each other smiling. They are all happy that they will learn something entirely new.

"Alright then. To your seat younglings" master Nagia says smiling at the antics from her younglings. The younglings move to their seats and don't have to wait long before master Che arrives. She places a disk in the holo-projector before turning towards them.

"Good morning, younglings. Welcome to my class in beginning force healing. First of all, I will tell you that not everyone will be very skilled in this way of using the force. Still, it is expected that you will finish beginning force healing within the next four years and upon graduation from the academy, you are expected to know the basics of Force healing. These skills will be further developed during your life as a jedi never stops learning. Now that we have had that we will start with your first lesson in force healing. I will first explain to you all what Force healing is and what skills you are expected to know the basics from. Then we will start with your first exercise in Force healing" master Che says and looks to the younglings who all have their attention firmly on her. She can tell that the group before her is excited about her lessons. Thus she continues on with her explanation.

"Force healing uses the Force to accelerate the natural healing process of injuries. This means that an injury will be healed faster with the use of Force healing than it would take on its own. Most Force healing skills use meditation to do the healing. That is the reason why the order wants your meditation to be on a certain level and why you have first learned meditation before starting with this subject or any other subject. Curato salvo is a term we use to describe the group of skills which focusses on self-healing. This was developed as a way to stay in good health and maintain a good physical condition. It also is meant to be used when one is flushing poisons or diseases out of one's body. This group of skills will be the focus of the upcoming lessons"

Master Che then pauses to see if the younglings are paying attention to what she is saying. She sees that most are still paying attention to what she is saying and feels relieved as the last class she taught wasn't paying attention to what she was telling them.

"Now younglings we will start with an exercise called healing meditation. With this technique, you will be able to heal yourself through meditation" master Che explains before calling the younglings to her.

"Younglings, come sit in a circle around me"

The younglings are quick to do as master Che instructs as they want to get started with the exercise. When all the younglings sit in a circle on the ground she says

"Now I want you to start with a simple meditation and when I tell you, you direct the force inwards. As you are not injured you should not be surprised that nothing will happen and you won't feel anything. This is how healing meditation works so you need to know how to do it"

The younglings enter a meditation trance as instructed and when master Che tells them to direct the force inwards. The remainder of the class they spend on practicing this exercise.

* * *

Jedi master Yan Dooku walks in the Senate building towards the office of his friend, Senator Sheev Palpatine. Senator Palpatine had asked for him to visit him in his office as he wants to talk to about something. What the senator wants to talk about Yan doesn't know. He hopes that his former master hasn't figured out that he is on Coruscant as else he will com him and asks to meet with him. Something Yan doesn't look forward to even if it is just a possibility. Looking around he sees the senators moving around and internally grimaces while holding a neutral expression on his face. Yan feels contempt for the senators as in his opinion almost all are corrupt and only have their own interests in mind with the exception of a few.

Arriving at his friend's office he sees the senator reading a report frowning at what he reads. Walking through the door, it closes swiftly after him. The senator looks up to see who had entered his office and smiles friendly to his friend.

"Reading a disturbing report, my friend" Yan Dooku says as a way of greeting.

"Ah, yes. A few systems are showing signs of wanting to leave the republic. It is sad that they don't trust the republic but then can you blame than with all the corruption going on here. But that is not why I asked you to come. I heard you have not been at the jedi temple in a long time. Why my friend. It's your home is it not?" senator Palpatine asks gently.

"I haven't felt at home there for a long time. The order should not blindly obey the requests of the Senate but look to where it's help is needed the most. Also, I don't intend to get into another discussion with master Yoda" Dooku explains.

"How can that happen? Master Yoda is for as far as I know not someone who will get easily angry or upset. But it is true that the order doesn't help those who really need it. I don't really know how to change that without fundamentally changing the order as well" senator Palpatine says before moving to his sitting area where a droid serves them drinks. They discuss the events going on in the galaxy and the Senate for the next few hours.

"I enjoyed talking to you, my friend, but I'm afraid I have to end our conversation here as I have a senate meeting to attend to" Palpatine says when he sees that he has a senate meeting in thirty minutes.

"I enjoyed our conversation too but I will not keep you from your duties, senator. May the Force be with you" Dooku says as he stands up to leave the room.

"You too, my friend. You too" Palpatine answers and after Dooku gives a bow to the senator he leaves his office intending on leaving Coruscant again for the outer rim.

Meanwhile, in the office of Senator Palpatine, who is also known as Darth Sidious, the senator is smiling wickedly to himself. He managed to place a few more suggestions in the jedi masters mind. It confirms his belief that the jedi are weak. He will have master Dooku firmly in the grip of the dark side in another four-five years of carefully placing suggestions and feeding his distrust in the order and the republic. He knows that he will have an apprentice ready by the time he needs it. The beast he has been training as an assassin won't be good enough to be his apprentice and it will either be taken out by a jedi, something which he hopes will not happen as it shows that that the beast forgot the lessons he taught him, or he will have him eliminated. Just then a male Muun enters the office. The Muun has a pale skin color, yellow eyes and is bald. He also wears a respirator mask as the result of a failed assassination attempt years ago. His name is Hego Damask and he is also known to some as Darth Plagueis. Darth Plagueis is the master of Darth Sidious.

"Master, how went your search for your creation?" Palpatine asks curiously as he wants to know what happened with his master's project. He knows that they will be powerful in the Force and wants them as his apprentice when he creates his empire. Jedi master Dooku, who is manipulating will then be eliminated by them. This will be a good stepping stone to the dark side. Palpatine is careful to hide his thoughts as his master will kill him for his planned treachery something he wants to avoid at all cost as it destroys his plans.

"I did not find them as they were bought by an unknown man. It was the risk I was willing to take when I used that slave woman as the carrier. As of yet, I have been unable to figure out the identity of this man nor to where he went. Also, you know as well as I do that my project failed as the Force fought back and created them on its own. Still, I want them as their powers will help us in our plans to create a new sith empire and the destruction of the jedi order" Plagueis answers while feeling annoyed that his apprentice refuses to acknowledge the resistance of the Force against his intention to use it to create a living being. He doesn't know how difficult it will be to lure them to the dark side and that he has to be careful in his approach. Should they find them when they are still young it will be easier to lure them to the dark side than when they are older. It will be even more difficult if the jedi have managed to get their hands on them. He knows that they will now be around six years old so he is a bit pressed for time to find them and annoyed that he is unable to do so. Should he find the buyer he will either find them or torture the buyer to find their location.

* * *

Near the end of the year, Anakin and his clan mates are anxiously awaiting their test results. Yesterday they took the tests and now are waiting for the masters to tell them the results. Some of the tests were finals, such as jedi philosophy, and some were scores for a specific part, such as force training. Anakin has a good feeling about the tests but can't be sure until the masters tell him his results. Currently, he is playing a game together with Shi, Batom, Zak and Hoshi. They have become a really tight group of friends over the year and now spend most of their free time together and even study together. Their test results have gotten better as they all help each other with the subject they find difficult and they understand the subject better afterward. They have chosen to play the game as it is easy for one to leave it for some time when they get their tests results. Looking to the entrance Anakin can see master Windu, Giiett, and Plo Koon entering their clan room.

"We'll be getting our tests results soon now" Shi says thoughtfully and the others fully agree with her. Five minutes later master Nagia calls the clan to her.

"Younglings come here" Master Nagia calls and when the entire clan sits before her she says

"You'll be getting your test results soon as I'm sure you all suspected already. Each turn four younglings will get their test results from one of the masters. We do this so that you will have your results soon and the remainder of the day you will be free of lessons as is also the case for the next two days. Another reason is that for those who passed the tests they will be rising to junior level and start with many new classes in three days. Now then Shi will get her results from master Windu, Hoshi from master Giiett, Inulu from Master Plo Koon and Jicho from myself. Everyone else should continue with what they were doing before"

The younglings who were called step forward to the master who will give them their test results while the remainder goes back to playing. Twenty minutes later Anakin feels a tab on his shoulder and when he looked up from the game he sees Inulu standing behind him.

"Your turn" Inulu says happily and Anakin stands up. From her expression, Anakin thinks that she passed her tests. He then walks towards Master Plo Koon where he sits down on the chair opposite of Master Plo Koon.

"Good morning, Anakin" master Plo Koon says.

"Good morning, master Plo Koon" Anakin answers and starts to fiddle with the hem of his tunic.

"I'm sure you'll be happy to know, Anakin that you passed all the tests and will be moving to junior level" master Plo Koon says calmly and can feel the nervousness disappear from Anakin. He then moves a data pad towards Anakin who looks questionable at the master.

"These are your tests results. What can you tell me about them?" Master Plo Koon says.

Anakin then takes a good look at them and is pleasantly surprised by what he sees. He shows as much in his voice when he says

"My meditation score is really good, the best it has ever been. My lightsaber training score is also really good, I think. My Force healing score is passable while the other subjects have similar scores as they have been the last few years. This means I did well on the tests"

"That's right, you did well on your tests. Your score for Force healing is not bad as some masters who had much worse scores than you did. The score also shows that you don't have much talent in it which is not bad. Your lightsaber training score is among the highest of the entire novice groups, not just the highest of the Bergruutfa novices" master Plo Koon says and they spend the next fifteen minutes talking about his scores and what he should do to keep them at this level. Later when everyone has had their turn Anakin learns that no one has failed their tests so that the whole novice group will rise to junior soon.


	6. Chapter 6

**36 BBY**

A few days after everyone passed their last tests Anakin wakes up to the call of master Nagia who is telling them to wake up. Pushing the blankets off of him Anakin steps out of his bed. Looking around the sleeping hall he can see that his clan mates are doing the same. He moves forwards and goes to stand near the foot of his bed. It doesn't take long for all the younglings to stand there.

"Younglings, I want you to be ready in fifteen minutes and meet me in the common room. Before coming to the common room all your possessions need to be in your trunk before your bed so that you can move them to your new sleeping hall after the clan rising ceremony. When everyone is in the common room we will go to the refractory where we will hold the clan rising ceremony with the other clans" master Nagia tells the younglings once every youngling is standing near the foot of their bed.

Anakin and his clan mates are quick to follow master Nagia's orders. Firstly Anakin moves towards the showers with his cleaned clothing. He made sure to pick the nice clothing they have to wear for important occasions. Master Nagia didn't say to wear the nice clothing but Anakin is sure it is expected as he saw his clan mates pick the same clothing. After taking a quick shower Anakin goes to brush his hair and teeth. He knows that if he takes to long to shower that one of the crèche attendants will tell him to finish his shower or they will cut his water depending on how long he has been under it. He has experienced this before and had to endure a lecture afterward on why a jedi should not waste water by taking a long shower. It was not a lecture Anakin enjoyed. Alright, Anakin admits he doesn't like the lecture to begin with and does his utmost best to avoid them. Not that he manages to avoid many of them as most times during lessons the entire clan gets the lecture intended for only one of them. This irritates almost all of them but he also understands that this is a way to give the lecture only once and it also teaches a lesson to them at the same time.

Afterwards, he dresses before walking back to his sleeping hall and starting to pack the few things he has laying around his bed and on top of his trunk. He puts them on his bed and then opens his trunk. He can see his spare clothing lying inside of it. Anakin puts his things on top of his clothing and makes sure everything is packed as it should be. Closing the trunk he locks it to make sure that when it is moved to his new sleeping hall that nothing will fall out. Having done that he moves towards the common room where master Nagia is waiting for his clan. When he enters the common room Anakin can see that some of this clan are already finished and are waiting there. Anakin joins them in waiting for everyone to be done and also for master Nagia to guide them to the refractory.

A few minutes later master Nagia enters the room and looks around the group waiting for her. Anakin knows that they are missing Erigian. It is not strange for him too late as he has done that multiple times before though most of the times one of his clan mates would remind him of the time or help him get finished so he never was really late. This ensured that he evaded the lecture Anakin is sure Erigian will get for being late. Well, most of the times that is. Just as master Nagia starts walking towards the novice sleeping halls Erigian comes running out.

"Sorry, master. I forgot the time" Erigian says tiredly. He feels tired from the running he had to do as well as doing everything in but a few minutes while he would need more time to do it properly.

"As a jedi, you should be aware of your surroundings, Erigian. That includes being aware of the time" master Nagia scolds. She is irritated that she had to remind Erigian about it again. She doesn't know how often she had to do that as she doesn't keep count on it. After Erigian joins the remainder of his clan master Nagia turns to them and says

"Now that everyone is here we will go to the refractory for the clan rising ceremony. There I want you all to stay with your clan and not to wander around. After we get back here we will together move everyone's trunk towards your new sleeping hall as I'm sure you have already suspected"

After that, they move towards the refractory where some clans are already present while others are coming in after them. Anakin can see that breakfast is more luxurious than what he is used to and wonders if that is a part of the ceremony. He certainly hopes it as some of the food looked really tasty. With great trouble he manages to keep his mouth from watering. On his left side he can see a table with belts lying on it. Near the table he can see master Windu and Plo Koon talking to each other. This makes Anakin wonder if they will take a part in the ceremony. Looking at the belts on the table Anakin can see that they are in a brown color than the one he is wearing now. This makes him believe that they will get the belts as part of the ceremony as he saw the previous juniors wearing belts in this color. Now he is wearing a black belt and he knows that the seniors wear light brown belts. Anakin believes that this is a way to show your ranking in a clan though he knows that the clan leader also wears a badge on their clothing. The previous clan leader has given his badge over to the current clan leader last year in a small ceremony which the entire clan could see. He knows that in two years' time a new clan leader will be chosen from among his group. Being a clan leader is a big responsibility as you are responsible for the clan when no master is present and you are allowed to lead your group of a younger group to their lessons alone.

"Good morning, younglings" master Windu says. Anakin is pulled from his musing by this and he can hear the master continuing "You have all passed the last novice tests and will be moving to junior level today in this ceremony. The ceremony consists of some words of advice from padawans and masters after which we will call each of you forward to receive your new belts and return your current belt to us. Then you are allowed to take your breakfast to one of the tables where the remainder of your clan will join you after they have been called. Padawan Eerin, what do you remember from your time as a junior youngling which you deem is important for these younglings to know"

"Thank you, Master Windu. I remember from my own time as a junior youngling that it is important to take enough time relaxing. I always did this by joining my friends in a game" padawan Eerin says. Anakin is surprised to see a padawan here who he hasn't seen in the refractory before. He wonders if she came in when he was busy thinking. He likes the advice she gave as it confirms what he has come to learn. If he took enough time for relaxing between making homework he found that he could learn better so he made sure to make a habit of it. Because of his musing, he doesn't notice Master Plo Koon talking nor hear what the master is saying. When there is a single clap coming from the podium together a wave through the force Anakin is pulled from his musing again by master Windu.

"We will begin the ceremony with the Bergruutfa clan and call each of you forward depending on your clan ranking after that we will go to the other clans. You will be able to tell if your clan is being called by the name of your fellow clan mates" Master Windu says after clapping his hands together once. He waits a few minutes to let everything he and the others said sink in. In the meantime, he takes the datapad with the lists clan rankings from the table. Looking back at the room he can see that almost all younglings are looking at him expectantly.

"Anakin Skywalker" master Windu calls out and Anakin is surprised that he is on top of his clan ranking. Nervously he makes his way to the podium where masters Windu and Plo Koon are waiting for him together with padawan Eerin. He can see that padawan Eerin is holding one if the new belts in her hands. When he arrives at the podium he walks up Master Windu who mentions for him to go to padawan Eerin who stands on the master's left side. Once he stands before her she takes his current belt off and puts the new one on while saying.

"Congratulations, Anakin. Now you are a junior clan member"

Anakin smiles brightly at the padawan while thanking her as he knows is expected of him. Master Nagia had given them already some lessons on how to behave in certain situations and others will be learned later or were already learned in the crèche. This lesson was one of the first she gave them in manners and one Anakin is sure everyone has remembered as they were reminded of it whenever someone forgot. This is in fact not the first time he is expected to thank someone. Bowing once to the masters Anakin turns around and goes to take his breakfast. Bowing to the master is something Anakin and his clan mates have known since they could walk as it was thought to them in the crèche from the day they could walk.

Anakin walks to the table he and his clan usually sit at after picking up his breakfast. After putting the tablet down he looks at it and can see that he has some nice rolls lying on it covered with meat and cheese. Also, there is some nice fruit lying on it. The fruit is something Anakin enjoys immensely as it tastes rich and is juicy. Also, it is one of his most loved fruits. He suspects that some of his clan mates also enjoy this fruit immensely. This is mostly because they rarely get real fruit and usually they will get some fruit cubes which they have to eat. These don't have much of a taste and almost everyone takes them while drinking a lot of water after it. Anakin doesn't think he can swallow them otherwise. Looking for what he has been given to drink he sees that he has gotten some juice. Looking at it Anakin is surprised that they got it as normally they only can choose between water and blue milk with their breakfast. Anakin looks around the table to see if everyone has sat down as he knows that he can't start with his breakfast if not everyone is sitting at the table with their own breakfast. He can see that they are missing a few and when he looks around the refractory he can see them at the counter picking up their breakfast.

"We will wait with our breakfast until all the clans have gone through the ceremony" Master Nagia says and Anakin is surprised that he hasn't noticed her coming up on the table. He finds it a bit annoying that they have to wait but can also understand it. Everyone will be ready with their breakfast around the same time if they also start at the same time. Twenty minutes later the last youngling walks down the podium to the counter and master Nagia gives them a sign that they can start with their breakfast. Anakin is quick to start as he is quite hungry because he had to wait for so long on his breakfast. He is certain that all the younglings in the refractory are doing the same as he does as they have all had to wait a long time to be able to eat their breakfast either because they had gone through the ceremony early or had to wait a long time to go through it. Anakin makes sure to eat neatly and calmly so that he doesn't choke on his rolls. Master Nagia has been pressing them to eat neatly and calmly as she said that you then can taste more of the food you're eating and that you don't have to clean a lot afterward.


	7. Chapter 7

One hour later Anakin and his clan mates are finished with their breakfast and master Nagia leads the new junior Bergruutfa clan back to the clan's main room. There master Nagia mentions for the juniors to sit in a circle which they are quick to do. Anakin wonders if she will tell them their new daily schedule as he is sure that their days will look different from what they are used to. When all the younglings are sitting on the ground master Nagia says

"Let me start by telling you all, welcome to your first day as juniors. Even though you are free from lessons classes today your life as a junior starts today. Tomorrow you will start with some new lessons and some new subjects in lessons you have had during your novice years. I will first tell you how your daily schedule will look like before telling you what the new subjects are in the lessons you have also had as a novice.

As you are used to you have from seven thirty till eight to ready yourself for the day and from eight till nine you will eat breakfast. From nine till eleven fifteen you will have lessons in the Force. From eleven thirty till twelve you will have lightsaber training. Twelve till one is time for you to eat your lunch and from one till two you will have lessons in galactic basic standard. From two fifteen till three fifteen you have mathematics, from three thirty till four thirty you will have lessons about galactic cultures. From four forty-five till five forty-five you will have political science lessons. From five till six you will have science lessons and from six till seven you is time for dinner. From seven till eight-thirty you will have physical training and from eight-thirty until nine-thirty, you will have some free time. Around ten it is expected that you all are in bed asleep.

Saturday and Sunday you will only have your morning and evening classes as you are also used to. Now that we have had that we will discuss what some of your new lessons are and what the new subjects are in the lessons which you have had also during your novice years. Are there already any questions?" master Nagia asks. Almost all the younglings raise their hands as one.

"Do questions about our classes count?" Erigian asks smugly after master Nagia gives him permission to ask his question. The other younglings all have to laugh at his question and voice their agreement with him.

"No, Erigian. That question doesn't count" master Nagia says smiling before asking "Anyone has a different question?"

No hands are raised which shows to her that the other younglings also had questions about the lessons as was to expect. Some of the lessons are new to them so they wouldn't know what they will be. Looking around the juniors master Nagia says

"Well, okay. Let me start with your first lesson: The Force. In these lessons, you will continue with the subjects you have had during your novice years while after some time new aspects of Force control will be introduced with which you will then start to practice. But before that, you will have to have a good enough grasp on the current subjects because the new ones built on them. With lightsaber training, you have spent some time on the basics of lightsaber use and from now on you will start to learn the first form: Shii-cho. You will start with sequences and after some time you will start with velocities. Occasionally you will also spar with each other. What this all is will be explained to you by your lightsaber trainer during tomorrow's lesson.

With galactic basic standard, you will be continuing with the subjects that you had the previous years. It will, of course, become more difficult than before. Mathematics will also be the same thing as galactic basic standard so you will continue with your current subjects. With galactic cultures, you will be studying the most important cultures that exist in the galaxy in depth while globally studying the less important cultures. Your instructor will give you some more information about what is expected of you for this class during your first lesson. With political science, you will be studying the politics of the republic. This means you will learn how the republic is organized, which political activities there are and the political thoughts that exist in the republic. What political thoughts are you will learn during this class as it is a vital part of the class. With science, you'll be focussing on biology. And lastly, you'll be starting three days in the week with unarmed combat during your physical training. In the beginning, you'll mostly be focussing on how to make the moves. Now then, who has a question?" master Nagia asks the younglings and sees a few hands being raised.

"Why do we get these new classes?" Alioli asks curiously.

"You get these new lessons because you'll need them once you become a jedi knight and you have learned enough from your previous lessons that you don't need them anymore. There are things which weren't covered in those lessons that will be taught to you in other lessons. Does that answer your question?" master Nagia asks.

"Yes, master" Alioli answers.

"Are there any more questions?" master Nagia asks and when no hands are raised she says

"Well, then we can start with moving your trunks to your new sleeping hall. You'll be doing this in pairs and afterward, when all the trunks are in the junior sleeping hall then, you are free to put everything where it belongs before you are free to play. Also, you'll find in each bed the supplies you need for your lessons. It will be your duty to make sure that they will be working and to take them with you to your class so make sure you know exactly where they are. Now then, make pairs so that we can start. The faster we are done the faster you will have free time" master Nagia says and can feel the happiness in her younglings at the thought of more free time. They rarely have a lot of free time so they treasure every bit they can get. The pairs are quickly made. Anakin has paired up with Shi and within a few hours, everything is done. The remainder of the day they spend on playing games together.

* * *

A few days later Anakin is looking for master Nagia in the late afternoon. When he finds her he can see her talking with masters Yoda, Windu, and Dooku. Anakin has never met master Dooku in person but he knows from his lessons that he is a really great master and was taught by master Yoda. When Anakin carefully brushes against their presence he senses a small darkness in master Dooku. At least he believes it to be dark as it makes him feel cold. From how it is acting Anakin believes that the darkness is battling with the light within master Dooku as it is swirling around master Dooku's presence. Anakin instantly dislikes such feelings and struggles to keep his thoughts to himself. He does his best as he doesn't want to disturb the masters. Unfortunately, the masters do notice and turn to look at him.

"Anakin, what's wrong?" master Nagia asks gently while crouching down to Anakin's level. The other masters stand behind her looking at him. Anakin can tell that they are all worried about him and believes that they want to know what is wrong with him. This starts to make him nervous.

"I...I" Anakin stammers. He feels really nervous because of all the attention focused on him. Furthermore, he doesn't know how to explain it and worries that the masters won't believe him. He doesn't want to be called a liar.

"Calm down, youngling. Felt something, you did, mhhh" master Yoda asks and Anakin nods in answer.

"Youngling, what have you felt that has you so feeling so disturbed" master Windu asks gently while crouching beside master Nagia.

"You can tell us" master Nagia says encouraging when she notices that Anakin is looking worried. She wonders what has disturbed him so as it's not easy to disturb him. It is easier to get Anakin angry but disturbed. That is something she has never known him to be in the past. She can see that Anakin takes a deep breath before he saying

"I felt darkness in master Dooku when I touched your presences. It was battling with the light in master Dooku like it is trying to take over. At least it felt like that and I don't know how to explain it in another way"

The masters instantly look towards master Dooku as they know that Anakin is already really good at sensing presences. For him, there is little that he doesn't notice and as such he is often better at sending presences than even experienced master is. But the most important thing is that Anakin has never lied to anyone. He always insists on being honest and expects it from others as well. As such they know that he isn't lying.

"Would you lower your shields, master Dooku" master Windu says to which master Dooku complies. Anakin can tell from the tone in master Windu's words that he meant it as an order and he can tell that the masters are concentrating. After some time he can see that master Windu starts to frown while master Yoda's ears fall down. He knows that this shows that master Yoda is sad about something. The reaction of Master Nagia Anakin can't tell as she has moved behind him and placed her hands on his shoulder. She did this to show her support to him. Just then master Yoda says

"Back to the clan, you will take Anakin, master Nagia. To the council, we will go. Discuss what we will do, we will"

Thus Master Nagia takes Anakin back to the clan so that they can discuss what happened and also determine why he came looking for her. Master Yoda, Windu and Dooku go to the council room to discuss what they will do with this revelation. Master Windu also makes a call to the other masters to call a meeting.

* * *

A few minutes later they reach the council room and can see that most of the council are already present. Master Yoda and Windu sit down on their own chairs while master Dooku moves to stand in the middle of the room. Not long afterward the entire council is present and most are frowning at master Dooku as he has lowered his shields when he entered the council room earlier. He did this at the request of master Yoda who had asked him to lower his shields in the council room during their trip there. All the councilors can feel the darkness swirling in master Dooku's presence. This concerns them all them as they know that master Dooku is strong on the light side of the Force. Besides for darkness to swirl in a person"s presence they know that it must have been placed there by another person.

"I do believe everyone can tell why I called this meeting" Master Windu says and the other masters acknowledge his statement.

"How did you find it, master Windu" Master Giiett asks and knows what everyone else wants to know that too.

"We found it after one of the bergruutfa younglings came looking for master Nagia. The youngling told us that he felt it in master Dooku's presence after touching our pretenses to make us aware of his presence in the hallway. We all know that that youngling does not lie so we knew he was telling the truth and it had to be there" master Windu explains.

"Was that youngling by any chance Anakin Skywalker?" master Giett asks curiously as he knows that Anakin is one of the few younglings the description fits. Anakin is also the only youngling from the Berguutfa clan who fits the description so he asks this for confirmation of who he believes it to be. The other council members are all equally interested in the answer master Windu has for this question. Most councilors have the same person in mind as master Giiett and know that Anakin never lies.

"Yes, it was Anakin Skywalker. But that is not why we are here. We need to figure out what we will do with this revelation" master Windu says and brings the council back on topic. The entire council agrees with him that this is a pressing matter and they can't stray from the topic. After approximately twenty minutes of questioning master Dooku the council asks him to leave the room and wait in the side room under close guard of the temple guards. This is done more out of precaution than out of a possibility for a real threat. The council then discusses the situation, the ramifications and possible solutions for the next few hours. They come up with multiple solutions but in the end, they come to an agreement on a solution they deem the best. It is then that they ask master Dooku to re-enter the council room.

"Master Dooku, we have come to a solution for your situation. You'll be placed on a formal censure and will be regularly seeing a mind healer for the next two years. This is to remove the darkness that has been placed in your Force presence and at your healer's discretion, you'll slowly regain your autonomy. Also, you'll be receiving lessons from a master to strengthen your shields so that something like this can't happen again. For at least the next two months you are confined to the temple and are forbidden from having contact with anyone outside the order or with anyone lower in rank than a senior padawan. Afterward, you'll be teaching youngling groups who the council approves of. This is all to protect the order and its members as it is for you to heal yourself. We don't want the person who did this to you to be able to counter any actions the mind healer make. In the meantime, we will also start an investigation into who is behind this and we expect you to cooperate with the investigators" master Windu says.

"Of course, master Windu" master Dooku says. He knows it is a harsh punishment, but also one that would be given to every other member. As a jedi master, it is expected that you are able to shield your mind so that no one can influence it. For knights counts the same while padawans learn how to do it.

"We have full confidence that you'll be able to overcome this. Your first meeting with your mind healer is at eight o'clock. Have a good night" master Windu says and dismisses master Dooku. Master Dooku leaves and heads towards his quarters while the council stays for a few more hours to discuss other matters.


	8. Chapter 8

Currently, Anakin and his friends are playing together as is one of the few days of the year that they are free. Yesterday they got the results of the latest tests back and in two days a new year will start. None of them can wait as they all look forward to entering their second year as juniors. Tomorrow they will receive the new novices in their clan. The créchelings are now old enough to leave the créche and become members of a clan. This is also something they all look forward to as they know that they will help master Nagia and the seniors care for them. Anakin knows that as he and his group are older that they will be expected to help their youngest members the same way as they were helped when they were novices. It is then that Anakin actually remembers the test results he got back from master Plo Koon yesterday afternoon.

* * *

"Anakin, sit down so that we can discuss the results you got on your tests" Master Plo Koon says as Anakin nears the desk the master is sitting at. Anakin is quick to sit down as he can't wait to know the tests result. From his previous lessons, he knows that as a jedi he is expected to be calm. Excitement is not the jedi way as his group and he were told a last year during one of their lessons. For the life of him, Anakin can't remember which master told him that nor can he remember which lesson they were told that in. When he sits down master Plo Koon pick up one of the data cards and puts in in a reader. This tells Anakin that this card contains his test results. A few seconds later Anakin can hear the sound which signals that the reader has unlocked the data on the card. He knows the sound because of the research he has done for some of his classes. This almost always was a subject he was told by the instructor to research because he would have to explain to his group what the subject is about.

"Let's see, your scores for math and galactic basic standard have not changed at all and are still among the top of your group. Your biology score has gotten a bit better than last time and now is one of the top three of your year. Your scores in cultures and political science are still passable and a bit better than last time. It is clear that those are subjects you are not gifted in. Your score in lightsaber basics is among the top of your year. This means you will be allowed to start with velocities and will most likely soon be starting with the occasional spar. Also, you will be allowed to give demonstrations to your group because of your good scores. The scores you got for Force training are among the best we have seen so far while your scores for physical training are among the top twenty of your year. I can also see that there has been a note that you have to be conscious of your emotions. You seem to be really passionate about things from time to time and that is not the jedi way" master Plo Koon says while reading the results shown in the data reader. He reprimanded Anakin because he has to learn to not show his passions in the open. Master Koon knows that there are more knights who are passionate in the order but they don't show it in the open. This has kept the council out of their hairs. He intends for Anakin to learn this as well so that the council will not be breathing down his neck. They already are keeping a close eye on him because he could possibly be the Chosen One. Another thing he knows is that padawan Kenobi has recently been knighted so everything is on track for them to become a master-padawan team.

Meanwhile, Anakin is really happy with his scores as most are really good with the exception being the scores for cultures and political science. This is the subject he likes the least as they are boring in his opinion. Biology is a class he likes really well as it is really interesting what they learn in the lessons. This is why he could keep his focus during this lessons as opposed to cultures and political science. He believes that he would have gotten bad scores for those if not for the help his friends gave him. They helped him with studying for the tests and is thankful for them for their help. Also, they have started with the mandatory meditations each day. This means that they have to do five mandatory meditations each day. During this year Master Nagia and the instructors helped them remember so that everyone did enough of them. This morning they were told that from now on they would have to do it all on their own. Anakin intends to stick to the schedule they were taught last year and in time adapt it better fit to the lessons and duties he has. Anakin is also really happy that he is allowed to give demonstrations because of his good score in lightsaber training. Those demonstrations Anakin knows exist out of sequences and often they are totally new ones. Now that he thinks about it Anakin wonders how he is supposed to demonstrate these new sequences if he hasn't been taught them yet. He suspects that he will be given individual lessons where he learns these new sequences before demonstrating them and practicing them with the entire group. It is the only thing that would make sense to him.

* * *

"Younglings, come here" Master Nagia says and pulls Anakin out of his recollection. She has a few things that need to be done before the new novices arrive tomorrow and intend for the clan to do that. After hearing her voice the entire clan moves towards her and stands in front of her. The smallest of them stand closest to her while the larger ones stand near the back of the group. This is done so that everyone can look at master Nagia and also so that she can look at all of them.

"As I told you this morning, tomorrow our new novices will join us. For that, we need to prepare their new sleeping hall so that they can go to bed after coming here without having to do a lot. You all know from your own experiences that they will arrive here an hour before it is their bedtime. So I thought that it will be a good idea if the entire clan would prepare their sleeping hall for them as a welcoming gift for your new brothers and sisters. If you all work together then you can have it finished in an hour if not in less time. Your clan leader will have the task of organizing this task" master Nagia says. Having the clan leader lead this is a way to test his ability to lead and will surely get a good mark on his record if it goes well. padawan Ninala knows that she is supposed to keep an eye on the younglings while they ready the sleeping hall for tomorrow's arrivals. Thus the entire clan looks to their clan leader for what to do.

"How many beds do we have to make, master? And are the trunks already in the sleeping hall?" the clan leader asks master Nagia. By knowing this he will know how much work they have to do and how to organize everything.

"You'll have to make eight beds and no the trunks are not yet in the sleeping hall, you'll have to put them there" master Nagia answers and can see that the clan leader is considering which tasks he will have to give to who. She is really pleased by his thoughtfulness in making the plan for all of this.

"The juniors will be making the beds while the seniors will place the trunks at the foot of the beds. I will coordinate everything so that no one will be walking in each other's way. Anakin, will you help me with this. I can't do it on my own and need your help to do everything correctly. I think you will be able to help me really well" the clan leader says and really hopes that Anakin will accept it. He knows that Anakin is one of the candidates to take over clan leadership when he leaves the clan. From all the candidates Anakin has his preference because he is already showing his skills in leading his group.

"I will" Anakin says happily. He really likes to lead other so that they are able to get the task they were given done. He knows that he will be responsible for everyone's behavior to master Nagia and that it is always a group effort. If no one works together then the leader can't get the task done. Also, if a leader doesn't listen or doesn't work together with his group the task also won't get done. But if everyone is working together including the leader then the leader can get the task done.

"As I said I will coordinate everything but will put my focus on the task the seniors have while Anakin will do the same for the task of the juniors have been given. Does everyone understand what I just explained?" The clan leader asks and gets nodding heads as an answer from his clan.

"Then let's get started" the clan leader says while clapping his hands once in imitation of master Nagia's behavior and everyone starts with moving towards their assigned task. This means the juniors gather around Anakin while the seniors gather around the clan leader. Anakin and the clan leader then start with assigning a specific task to each member of their group. Anakin assigns some go cleaning while others are tasked with getting supplies to make the beds and also to make them. He assigns himself to clean the sleeping hall even if he doesn't like it himself. He knows that actually none of his group mates do like it and actually despise it. After approximately forty minutes everyone is finished without experiencing any troubles which everyone is really happy about. Now they can go back to playing or whatever they were doing before.

* * *

Meanwhile, a senator sits in his office in the galactic senate with a cloud of rage around him. Luckily no one is present in his office except for his master who looks equally angry. If anyone was present they would be utterly petrified of both men and be looking for the first opportunity to escape from their presence. The cloud around both men is one where they are about to murder someone.

"Do you have anything to say for yourself?" Plagueis growls while looking at his apprentice in anger. This was a risk he wouldn't have approved off if he had known what his apprentice has been doing.

"No, master. I don't know how I could have lost the influence I managed to get over Dooku" Sidious answers entirely truthfully for once. Normally he would keep some aspect of the things he learned during missions for himself so as to not let his master look into his cards. This is especially the case for the plans he is making to take over the position of Sith master for some time now. If his master should find out about it he is sure he will be gruesomely punished for it. Also, he knows that with the loss of influence over the jedi it will be really difficult to get everything that has been planned, done. He knows that he can't use the beast he has been training for the plans he has. He is too unstable for that. Still, if worst comes to worst then he will have to make do with it until he can replace it with a better apprentice.

"That is not what I meant, apprentice. I wanted to know why you would endanger our plans in such a way and without asking permission from me, your master" Plageuis says angrily while shooting Force lightning at his apprentice to reinforce what he said. An apprentice does nothing that endangers their master's plans without permission as it will make future planning by themselves even more difficult. It would be highly illogical to do so.

"Think about what you just learned" Plagieus says when he is done and walks out of the office. He hopes that his apprentice has learned this lesson well and will remember it in the future. He doesn't want to have to come back to this in the future and knows that should he have to do so it will not end pretty. Sidious looks at his master with utter anger when he has recovered enough.

"Wait, my master. I will kill you slowly and painfully when the time has come" Sidious says when he knows that his master is too far away to hear him and also that no one else can hear him talking.


	9. Chapter 9

**35 BBY**

During the middle of the year, Anakin and his group mates are incredibly surprised when they notice that they are going to a different room while they know they should be going to their biology room. They all wonder if their instructor needs this room for today's lesson and the gossiping about the reason for the change in location is quick to start. The reasons move from normal or logical reasons to really strange reasons. At least Anakin deems them to be really strange. They are quick to arrive at their destination and are then even more surprised when they see an unfamiliar instructor in the room preparing a lesson. The instructor is a red-skinned male Togruta wearing dark robes who is readying his presentation and has put some equipment in the middle of the room on a table. At least that is what Anakin can tell from where he is standing and what he can see the instructor do. Their guide mentions for them to take their seats so the younglings go to their seats feeling incredibly surprised. Anakin decides to center himself through a meditation as they have another ten minutes before their next lesson will start. That is what Anakin can tell from the clock that is visible in the middle of the room. And also he will have almost finished his mandatory mediation for today. Master Nagia always tells them that it is incredibly important to learn how to meditate now as it will become even more important in the future. Quickly kneeling on the floor, Anakin is quick to enter a meditation trance. He lets his thoughts fly and they quickly turn to the reasons behind the current situation. Through meditation, he discovers that there is an important reason behind the change in location but the Force is unwilling to give him the exact reasons for this. This frustrates him immensely as he doesn't want to be surprised. Anakin likes to know why everything is happing so that he can prepare himself for it. Remembering the words from master Yoda, Anakin starts to let his feelings of frustration flow into the Force. This is still really difficult for him and he struggles with it. He wonders if he should seek out master Yoda, later on, to help him as he gets the feeling that he isn't making a lot of progress in letting it all flow into the Force. When he hears the call from the instructor that the class will soon begin he is quick to lock his feelings of frustration away. Standing up, Anakin goes to his seat and sits down.

"I know you are all wondering why you are here and who I am. My name is Kita Sodaro and I'm one of the orders' chemistry instructor among other things. You are here because at the end of the week you will have your final exam for biology and from today on will be starting with chemistry lessons. Thus you are here for your first chemistry lesson of your life" master Sodaro explains before starting with the lesson for today. Anakin is happy to know why they are here and looking forward to these lessons. He knows that these will be vital lessons which they will need in the future so wants to get really good scores for it while also understanding as much as possible. For that reason, Anakin makes sure to pay close attention to what is being taught by their new instructor.

* * *

At the end of the day when everyone is busy getting ready for bed their new lesson is being discussed. They all so wonder why master Nagia hadn't told them about it as she normally always does when there is something new for them or something special will be happening. Also, they are all anxious for the biology final as this score will follow them for the rest of their life. For that reason, everyone wants to do everything possible to get a good score. Meanwhile, Anakin cleans up the shower he has been using so as to make sure that everyone leaves before going over a new demonstration he has to give tomorrow. He wants to do it right so he wants to practice a bit. Not that he ever failed at a demonstration. It is also not a difficult move he will have to demonstrate nor does it take long to execute so he is done before suspicion is being raised. Also, he needed to be alone because the masters had told him not to show new moves to his group mates. When he enters the sleeping hall again it is clear by the noise in the room that everyone is still talking about things that happened today. Then Anakin then goes to make sure he is completely ready for bed. A few minutes later he is done and goes to join his friends in their discussion. They spend their time talking about their new lesson, the upcoming biology final and pressing Anakin about which new move they will learn tomorrow. Ten minutes later master Nagia walks into the room and says

"Alright, everyone. Time for you to go to sleep"

Knowing that it is not wise to disobey master Nagia because she will have you clean the entire common room when everyone has free time, all the younglings are quick to climb into their bed and trying to go to sleep.

* * *

The next morning Anakin and his group are at their Force lesson and will be starting with the sense abilities that they are expected to know before taking the initiate trials and being taken on as a padawan. Master Yoda had told them that yesterday at the end of the lesson. The exercises they are told to do in this lesson are really interesting and fun. The entire lesson is really liked by the younglings who hope that such exercises will be practiced more often to bring some fun into the lessons that are normally hard or boring. Master Yoda hadn't told them anything about this today or yesterday but Anakin knows from experience that they will more than likely practice it during future lessons. That is because it is really difficult to fully master the exercises if there is little to no time to practice them. The entire group is actually disappointed for once when master Yoda calls an end to the lesson. They would have loved to practice for a while longer before going to lightsaber training.

Afterward, Anakin is preparing himself mentally for another demonstration when Shi walks up to him and asks

"Will you tell me anything about today's demonstration, Anakin?"

"Sorry, Shi. You know I can't as that would not be fair to our group mates if you would know something they don't. You'll see soon which new move we will be learning. I can tell you that the demonstration will be given at the beginning of the lesson" Anakin says. He knows that he hasn't done anything that the masters have told him not to do so he won't be in trouble with them later on. All he said was when the demonstration will be given. A few minutes' later Anakin walks up to master Giiett and goes to stand behind him on his left side. Master Giiett is holding a training saber in his right hand and gives it to Anakin who takes it respectfully al the while thanking him. As he knew that a saber will be given, Anakin didn't pick a training saber up from where they are stored alongside the wall as his group mates have done. Once everyone is standing where they are supposed to stand master Giiett starts the lesson by explaining the move they will be learning today and how it will be practiced today. Once master Giiett is done he gives Anakin a signal to start his demonstration. During the demonstration master Giiett is watching Anakin intensely to see if he is making mistake somewhere. Master Giiett is happy that he can't find a mistake in the move Anakin is demonstrating as usual. Afterward, master Giiett has the entire group practicing the move. During this, he makes sure to correct any mistakes he sees and gives compliments to the younglings who correctly execute the move. Near the end of this, he is sure that most younglings can make the move four times in a row correctly. For those who can't do this, he asks the group to help them with. To this question, he gets an acknowledgment from most of the group while a few refuse to do as asked. Those he reprimands to remind them that as a group and as jedi they are expected to help each other. He is actually disappointed in these younglings as this shows that they might not follow the path of the jedi and will leave the temple. Even though this happens each year at least one time he is sad to see these signs. Afterward, he tells the younglings to start with velocities and tells them to use a move they learned last week. This move is really difficult to practice on your own so it really is a good choice to start velocities with. Thus he tells the younglings to make pairs before allowing them to start with the velocities. In the beginning, they do the move slowly while as time goes on they are told to speed up. This he has the younglings do until the end of the class at which time they are making the move at a fast speed.

* * *

Near the end of the year, the seniors have prepared their things to take with them to the initiate dorms. They will soon be leaving the clan rooms for the initiate dorms or for civilian life as they have either passed or failed the initiate trials. Tomorrow they will be saying goodbye. When they are done packing master Nagia calls the entire clan to her and once everyone sits on the ground before her except the clan leader who stands behind her on her right side she says

"Younglings, I have called you because your clan leader will be leaving us tomorrow and we need to appoint a new clan leader. After careful consideration, your teachers and I have decided that Anakin Skywalker will be your new clan leader. In the next ceremony which you all will be watching your current clan leader will give his responsibilities to the new clan leader. For that, I want you to pay close attention to the ceremony and for you to be silent. You'll all be witnesses to this ceremony so that you can tell that everything went according to tradition. For the juniors, I know you will know how this ceremony should go as you were taught this during your lessons but haven't seen such a ceremony yet" master Nagia says and the entire clan nods. The juniors have only had lessons about this ceremony but never have seen it happening while the seniors have seen this happening once already.

"Anakin, come forward" master Nagia says and Anakin nervously walks towards her and the clan leader. The clan leader then walks forwards and takes the leader badge off his tunic. He holds it on one end in both his hand towards Anakin who bows once towards the clan leader. Then Anakin takes the other side in his hands and the clan leader says

"Anakin Skywalker, do you promise to keep the peace in the clan and guide them in the absence of a ranking member. Do you also promise to look after every member in the same way and put their needs before your own?"

"I promise to do so" Anakin says and the clan leader pins the badge on Anakin's clothing before bowing once to Anakin as he has done before. Turning towards Master Nagia Anakin says

"Master Nagia, if you have need of my assistance in caring for the clan please let me know and I will do my best to assist you"

"Of course, youngling. If I have a need for you I will approach you and inform you of the task I need you to do" master Nagia tells Anakin. Then he goes to stand at the place where the previous clan leader stood who has in the meantime joined the other younglings.

"Please greet your new clan leader, younglings" master Nagia tells the younglings who all bow to Anakin as they are expected to do before swarming him to congratulate him on his appointment and they start to ask him all kinds of questions. Anakin feels a bit overwhelmed by this and hopes he will get used to the attention he will be receiving because of his appointment. Not that he is unhappy to be appointed as clan leader. It is just that he would like to not be asked so many questions all at once.

"Alright, younglings, back to what you were doing. We don't do such things as jedi" master Nagia says amused after a few minutes. The. The younglings go back to doing what they were doing before the ceremony.


	10. Chapter 10

**34 BBY**

Anakin is leading his group to their next lesson, Chemistry when he is reminded of what they will be doing today. He is actually looking forward it as they will be doing their second experiment of this year. For that everyone had to study the texts they were given yesterday at the end of the lesson so that they would be aware of what they should be doing during the experiment. This ensures that everyone will be able to finish it their instructor had said. Anakin had to agree with the instructor as he could see that they would have to do a lot of things for this experiment so they wouldn't have a lot of time to read the text during today lesson. Also, during yesterday's lesson, they were given safety instructions and told what the risks were when they weren't obeyed. It could be anything from cleaning the classroom to detention. As no one wants to get these punishments they all agreed silently to obey the rules. This experiment will be part of their grade for this year and in a few months, they will have their next big tests as Anakin has started to call them in his mind. Anakin hopes to do really well in this experiment and is sure that he has a good teammate in Shi. Both have been getting good grades on tests and experiments so he doesn't worry too much about getting a low grade. That doesn't mean that he will be slacking during today.

Just then he notices that they are coming up to their classroom. Walking to the door Anakin looks inside to see if they can enter or not. From the instructors waving he can tell that they are allowed to enter and once he is inside he can see all the preparations that are done for today's experiment. All the tables are put with two against each other and the things they need for the experiment are lying on it. Among the things on the tables are burners, test tubes and dishes. On the instructor's desk, there are the substances in containers Anakin knows they will be working with. For all, he tries Anakin isn't able to see which substances are which. This is no fun in his opinion as he likes to know such things.

Anakin moves together with Shi to the tables that are assigned to them and sits on the chair behind the desk. He is careful not to touch anything on the desk as he doesn't want to cause accidents. After a few minutes, the instructor says

"Good day, everyone. I can see that you are respecting the rules I gave you for today's lesson. Shall we start then? I'm sure you know that you don't have much time to spare during the lesson if you want to finish your experiment before the end of the lesson"

"Yes, master" the group answers as one and then starts on their experiment. Anakin and Shi start by making the preparations they can make while their instructor starts to hand out the substances they will be experimenting with. They can't do everything as for most of the steps they need the substances for. After they receive them, they can continue. Anakin and Shi work together quietly and efficiently to go through the steps they need to take to finish the experiment. They do this by looking at the manual that they found lying on one of the desks. In the end, they both manage to get the results out of the experiment they need but are not satisfied that they did everything correctly. At their disappointed expressions, their instructor moves to them and looks at what he can see on their desk.

"You both did a good job at the experiment. I haven't seen anyone doing so good during the last few years" the instructor says soothingly while placing a hand on the shoulder of both Anakin and Shi.

"But it isn't the same as when you showed it to us" Anakin says.

"And I didn't expect you to get it exactly right on your first time doing this to experiment. Do you know why Anakin?" the instructor asks and Anakin shakes his head as he doesn't know why he couldn't get the same result as his instructor did.

"That is because it is your first time doing this experiment. I didn't get it exactly right either the first three times I did it and still make mistakes occasionally. This experiment is a good way to learn to do them but it is also difficult to get it right. As it is an also safe experiment it is not too bad to make some small mistakes as you and Shi did because of it won't hurt. Big mistakes would have hurt but for as far as I could tell no one made them which I'm glad about. You'll learn from the mistakes you made and won't be making them the next time, right?" the instructor asks calmly. He also said this in the hope that the younglings would be remembering his words when they made mistakes later in their life.

"No, master. We won't be making this mistake the next time" Anakin answers and Shi nods her head to show she agrees with Anakin. At the end of the lesson, everyone works together to clean everything up before leaving for their next lesson of the day. By working together they managed to get everything put back in their place within five minutes. This confirms for them that when you work together you get things done quicker.

* * *

The next day the group is waiting for their cultures instructor to start today's lesson. Everyone wants to continue on the paper they have to turn in for this class. They have but two weeks to finish it and Anakin has questions about it that he couldn't ask yesterday when they were given information about the paper. The reason for that was that the information was given at the end of the lesson so they had to leave quickly and if they can work on it during today's lesson than he can ask his question. As he doesn't know his homeworld he really doesn't know what the culture of his people is called and where to find it. Their instructor had told them that they would be going over the topics they are to cover today before giving everyone time to work on their paper. She had promised that they would be getting less homework for the next two weeks so that they could spend enough of their time focussing on the paper. This is something everyone appreciates as they don't have a lot of time to work on it during the week because of all the lessons they have each day. When the instructor calls the group to order as she wants to start today's lesson, Anakin is pulled out of his thoughts.

Twenty minutes later Anakin stands up and walks towards the instructor as they now were given time to work on their paper. Today's lesson was interesting as it will be helpful for the paper they have to write. Because of that, Anakin made plenty of notes on his datapad.

"Anakin, can I help you with anything" Their instructor, master Hilla, asks and mentions for him to come closer. He made sure to keep a bit of a distance but not too much. By doing this he showed that he was in need of her help and patient enough to wait until master Hilla has time.

"Yes, master. I would like to ask what I should do with my paper as I don't my homeworld. I looked into my file together with master Nagia, just as everyone else, and could see that I was born in Hutt space. So I don't know what culture I should write about as there are many cultures in Hutt space. I looked it up in the archive before today's lesson" Anakin says after coming to stand closer to her. He hopes that she can help him as he wouldn't know what to do if she can't help him.

"You could write about any of them or about a culture from a world you consider to be your homeworld" master Hilla says. She can imagine which culture he will be writing. For all the younglings in the temple, Coruscant is their homeworld. This is the result of them growing up on Coruscant. The younglings have an origin on another planet and about that one should be written a paper. Coruscant stays their homeworld in their hearts and minds. But in the case of Anakin and others in the same situation as him, it is acceptable that they write about Coruscant as it is seen as a homeworld for jedi younglings.

"I can write about the culture of Coruscant?" Anakin asks bewildered. He hadn't expected this answer at all and is pleasantly surprised by it. This makes his problem go up in smoke. He knows that he can come up with a good paper now that he received this answer. There is a lot of information about Coruscant's culture in the Archives which he intends to use for his paper.

"Yes, you can write your paper about Coruscant" master Hilla says and has to smile at the content appearance on Anakin's face. She lets this revelation sink in for a short while before asking.

"Do you know that you are not the only one with this problem, Anakin?"

"I didn't think about that, master. But it would not be surprising at all as we all are born in different places before coming to the temple. I've heard that it does happen that younglings are born in space so it wouldn't be strange for some of my siblings to also born in space" Anakin answers thoughtfully.

"That is right. You gave me a beautiful diplomatic answer, Anakin. Do you know that? You will become a good jedi if you keep it up" master Hilla says encouragingly. Well, as diplomatic as an eight-year-old can manage. The order has need of jedi who can act diplomatically because most of the missions the order has are in this fashion. There are not many missions in different fashions and those are almost always handled by a specialist. Of those, she believes that the order has more than they actually need.

"Thank you for your help, master. I will then go work on my paper" Anakin says after bowing to her as is expected of him by temple custom. He goes back to his desk and starts to make an outline of what information he needs before making his way to the Archive to gather it. He learned that if you know what you are looking for you're finished faster. Also, this eliminates the risk of being distracted or of gathering too much. Master Hilla had told them that they could go to the Archive if they needed information but had to be back here before the end of the lesson. In the end, Anakin is able to produce a paper on which he is incredibly proud and manages to get a good grade. The others of his group also manage to get good grades which makes everyone incredibly happy.

* * *

At the end of the year, Anakin and his friends are making their way back to the clan rooms from the hangar. They have been on a physical training trip on another planet where they learned a lot of new and interesting things. Also, it was a lot of fun to play outside as most of the times they play in the temple are in the gardens or the clan rooms. The trip was a welcome change for all of them and they hope that they will be going on another one soon.

Once they arrive at their sleeping hall to put their bags away and the dirty clothes into the washing cycle, they are greeted by the side of data cards on their beds. Everyone wants to run to their beds to learn what is on it but are halted by master Nagia who they feel is standing behind her.

"Younglings, I want you to first put your bags away and your dirty clothes in the washing cycle before you open the data card on your bed" master Nagia says and everyone groans inwardly. They want to know what is on it as quickly as possible. At the look master Nagia gives them when they look behind themselves, they are reminded that they should be patient. It is just so difficult as they have reason to believe that the discs contain their test results. They were told earlier that they would get their results on data cards from now on and want to know how they scored.

The entire group quickly and orderly do as master Nagia told so as to not disappoint her. That is the last thing everyone wants to do, disappointing a master that is. Once they are done everyone quickly picks up the data card that lies on their beds and place them in their datapad. A short while later the room radiates with joy in the force. Everyone got good scores and will be moving to senior level next year.


	11. Chapter 11

**33 BBY**

In the afternoon master Nagia stands in the main room of the Bergruutfa clan and can see the younger younglings playing together while the older ones are playing some games in small groups. Most are doing games at the tables while only one group is playing a Force game. This makes her look more carefully at what they are doing and only then does she notice that all the novices are sitting on the ground around the seniors. Seeing this she decides to take a closer look at what the seniors are doing together with the novices. When she gets within hearing distance she can hear Anakin explaining the game they are demonstrating to the novices. She has to smile at his actions as they already show that he will be a good master in the future and that she made the right decision to make him clan leader. Not that she had doubts in the past about his actions as clan leader. All this make her mind go back to the events of this morning when Anakin and his group rose to senior level and received their new belts.

* * *

Master _Nagia calls the oldest younglings of her clan to her as they will soon be leaving the rooms to go through the ceremony to become seniors. It doesn't take long for them all to stand before her with the clan leader at the front as is expected._

 _"Anakin, I want you to lead your groupmates to the room of a thousand fountains. There every one of you will go through the ceremony to become senior clan members. This is one step removed from becoming initiates and another step closer to be able to become a padawan as I'm sure you all know quite well." master Nagia explains and she gets nodding back from the younglings before her._

 _"Yes, master. I will lead my groupmates to the room of a thousand fountains." Anakin answers formally. This will be the first time for him to lead members of his clan to a ceremony or official gathering. This thought makes him feel a bit nervous and he does his best to control his nervousness._

 _After that Anakin starts to guide his group out of the room and they are on their way to the room of a thousand fountains to receive their new belts. This thought excited everyone as they can't wait to become seniors. The only thing that they do not look forward to is the thought that they are also a step closer to having to take the initiate trials. The trials are still quite a mystery to them as they were only told what the parts of the trials are but no details. Only thinking about them makes everyone nervous as they know that the trials have a lot of impact on their future in the order. After a bit of thinking about the trials, Anakin puts them from his mind as he knows that there are more important things for him to focus on right now._

 _When they arrive at the room of a thousand fountains Anakin can see that there are already groups waiting but not everyone yet has arrived yet. He guides his group to an open area where they wait until the ceremony starts. They pass the time of waiting by talking to each other about what they will be doing when they get back to the_ clan _rooms. After some time of_ waiting _master Yoda starts the ceremony. This one, Anakin can tell, will be really similar to the last one they had with the exception that they don't get any food afterward. Or if they do get some then it is not yet in the room. He wonders at that but knows that only time will tell if they can eat at the end of the ceremony._

 _Three hours later the ceremony is over and all the younglings leave the room of a thousand fountains for their own_ clan _room. After arriving at the clan rooms everyone is quick to split into their usual groups and they spend some time relaxing in the way_ jedi _are allowed to relax. That means for most meditating._

* * *

The feeling of pulling on her robe pulls master Nagia from her recollections and she looks to see who it is that pulling on her robe. She sees that it is one of her youngest charges who is also looking questionable and a bit worried at her.

"Master, are you alright?" the youngling asks when she sees that she has her master's attention. She saw that her master had a far-away look in her eyes and worries that something is wrong. As most of her siblings are otherwise occupied she felt that she would be the one that needs to check on their master.

"Yes, little one. I'm alright. I was just thinking." master Nagia answers.

"What were you thinking about, master?" the younglings asks curiously. She is curious to know what her master is thinking about and hopes that she will get an answer. It would actually not be strange for her not to receive an answer. Some things are for them to uncover on their own or they are not allowed to know, master Nagia told them some time ago. The last one is always because they are considered to be too young by the masters to know about those things. Not that she and her siblings like to be considered too young to know certain things as they all feel that they are old enough to deal with anything that can be thrown at them.

"That is personal, little one, but I can tell you that I was thinking about what happened a few days ago. Now go back to your siblings and enjoy the few days in which you don't have a lot of things to do." master Nagia tells the younglings while shooing her back to her friends with whom she was playing before. The youngling has soon forgotten the far-away look in her master's eyes as she is busy playing with her friends.

* * *

A few days later master Nagia is walking back to the clan room after having delivered her youngest charges to their first lesson of the day. She will be explaining to the seniors what their schedule will like for the next few years when she gets back to the clan rooms.

Meanwhile, in the clan room, Anakin is helping his siblings to clean their clan rooms as they were instructed to do by master Nagia before she left to guide the novices to their first lesson of the day. This task, cleaning that is, is one none of them like but they all know that it is one they have to do as the clan rooms have but a few droids around to do the cleaning. The cleaning the droids do is usually in the hallways or the other rooms that are shared by all the clans. That means that they don't have time to clean the other rooms and that is why it always falls to the younglings to do their own cleaning. As they are all doing the cleaning together they will soon be done in a few minutes. They will be done by the time master Nagia is back and maybe they will even have some free time before she gets back.

After a few minutes, they are done and just as they want to start with a game master Nagia walks back into the main room.

"Good morning everyone. Are you done with the cleaning of the clan rooms?" master Nagia asks curiously. She would not be surprised if that is the case as Anakin is really good at organizing this kind of activities and the other seniors will always tell him how they believe things can be done quicker or more efficient. Because of this, she is really pleased with these seniors. They all show great promise for the future and she is confident that they all will pass the initiate trials and find a master to teach them. She would actually be surprised if some of them, in the end, go to the service corps.

"Yes, master. We were just done when you arrived." Shi answers. She saw that Anakin is gathering the seniors to master Nagia and can't answer the question because of that. Also, the question was directed at all of them and not specifically Anakin so it would not be a problem for her or anyone else to answer. They all know that they will soon learn what their new schedule will look like. Shi doesn't suspect that there will be a lot of changes for them as some lessons are really important. These lessons everyone believes that they will have them for the remainder of their training. At least that came out the discussion they had had in the past few days. If these changes in their schedule are big or small she has no idea though she hopes that they will be small. Looking to see where Anakin is she sees that he has almost gathered all of them and that means that they will soon all be gathered together to receive their new schedule.

"Alright, now that everyone stands before me I will begin with giving you your new schedule." master Nagia says once everyone is standing before her. She picks up a small box that stands in one of the shelves and starts to distribute them among the seniors. Once everyone has received one she says.

"Go pick up your datapad from where you have left it and study your new schedule for a few minutes. We will then be talking about the changes there are in your new schedule compared to your previous one. Afterward, I will tell you a few details about certain classes that we, the master that is, want you all to know about before starting with your lessons."

All the younglings are quick to get their datapads from where they left it and return to where they were standing. There they all study the schedule but can't see that many changes. The only one most of them can detect is the change in their evening schedule. From what they can tell they will from now on be receiving two lessons in the evening and will be allowed to stay up till ten.

"Who can tell me what changes there are in your schedule?" master Nagia asks after a few minutes have passed. She would have liked to give them a bit more time but from the way they have started to talk amongst each other she feels certain that they are done with studying the schedule, they were given.

"We will be having two lessons in the evening and can stay up till ten." Batom answers master Nagia's question. He is happy that they can now stay up longer but unhappy to have two lessons in the evening.

"That is right. That is one of the changes. What lessons will you all be having in the evening, Batom?" master Nagia asks for confirmation. His answer now will tell her if he actually studied the schedule.

"Well, we will be having physical training and, uhm. Uhm, flight training." Batom says after having checked the schedule for the classes they will be having in the evening. He can hear snickering around him as his behavior amuses everyone else. He doesn't like to be seen as amusement for others and scolds to his clan mates.

"That is right, you will first be having flight training and afterward physical training. Next time, Batom, you should do as your told. It will certainly prevent you from embarrassing yourself in public in the future. Do you understand." master Nagia tells Batom who nods understandably while looking quite embarrassed. Still, he is irritated that he is seen as amusement by his own clan mates, but luckily they keep quiet now.

"What is the other change on your schedule, younglings?" master Nagia asks. She knows that there is one other change and wonders who noticed it for she knows that you will only see it if you have looked carefully at the schedule. This change can be looked over quickly as it only a minor change.

"Well, does anyone know the answer?" master Nagia asks again when no one has answered her question for some time. Just then a hand goes up and Erigian says.

"We won't be having lessons in galactic cultures anymore but from now on we will have lessons in the history of the galaxy. This lesson will take place during the time when we normally would have had galactic cultures."

"That is right, your lessons in galactic cultures have ended and will be replaced by history of the galaxy. I"m sure there are many of you who didn't see it. Am I right?" master Nagia explains and waits for her younglings to answer her question. There are some who did see it she can tell from the reactions but who gave others the chance to talk. Those younglings almost always answer her questions so she is glad that they allow others to do it now. Once she has an answer from all her younglings she says.

"Now you all see how important it is for you to look at the details as you will miss things if you don't. There will be times when some minor detail will turn out to be a really important detail if not the most important one. So I want you to remember what I just told you."

"Yes, master." the younglings answer in one voice.

"Now then, I told you that I would explain a few details about some of your classes which the masters expect you to know about at the start of your senior lessons. Your chemistry lessons have ended, as I'm sure you all are aware of. But what you don't know is what you will be getting in its place as science still stands on your schedule. That is the first detail you are expected to know. Physics is the class you will be receiving during your science hours." master Nagia explains and waits a few minutes for the whispering of the seniors to end. Some are not happy with this subject while others are already really excited about receiving this lesson. This difference in opinion about the class sparks a discussion between the younglings which only stops when Anakin deems that it has lasted long enough. He then calls out for everyone to be silent and they obediently do as he says. They all know that you listen to the masters and clan leader. Once the whispering dies down master Nagia continues with her explanation.

"The other detail is that you will be getting lessons in lightsaber construction in your second year if you are eligible for the Gathering. Not that I see it happen that one of you will not be eligible for it. Everyone here is in my opinion well on their way to becoming an initiate. Now then let us get you all to your first lesson of the year."

After that, she guides the younglings to their lesson.

* * *

Four months later on a Saturday afternoon, the seniors return to their clan rooms to find a young knight in their rooms talking to master Nagia. Anakin feels like he knows the knight but can't tell from where. He can only see him from behind and as such only sees long auburn hair. From what he has seen around the temple it is normal for new knights to grow out their hair to lose the padawan cut. There are some older knights who also have long hair but Anakin feels that this knight is not one of them as his presence feels familiar and young to him. Knowing that he can't disturb their conversation, Anakin goes with his friends to the side of the room to study for a while. They are all deep in their studying when master Nagia calls everyone to her.

"Younglings, I want you to meet knight Kenobi." master Nagia says.

"Hello, master Kenobi" the younglings answer. Even if he is a knight to them he is a master and thus has to be called master. Anakin now knows where he recognizes the knight from. A few months ago when knight Kenobi visited them and spend some time with them. They all enjoyed the time they could spend with a senior padawan as they are really good at explaining things because of their experiences. Anakin is certain that he learned a few things from knight Kenobi's experience.

"I will be going on a mission and thus will be away for a few months. For that reason, knight Kenobi is here. He will take over my position as clan master for the time that I will be gone. I want you all to do your best to assist him as it is his first time in guiding a clan. I also want all of you to listen to him." master Nagia explains after the younglings welcomed their temporary clan master. The last part she added for some of her more troublesome younglings. Some of them like to go on adventures as they call it. She doesn't like the 'adventures' at all. That is why she felt she has to tell them already before leaving to listen to knight Kenobi.

"Yes, Master" the clan answers and then master Nagia goes to her room to finish packing for her mission. Hopefully, the younglings won't make knight Kenobi's time as clan master difficult as some do to her from time to time.


	12. Chapter 12

The seniors of the Berguutfa clan are spending some relaxing time in the room of a thousand fountains. Today is one of those very few days when they have little studying to do so everyone intends to enjoy the time they have to its fullest. The seniors have split up into their group of friends to entertain themselves with whatever they like to do in their free time when they are not studying.

Anakin is sitting together with Shi, Batom, Zak and Hoshi near one of the fountains in the back of the room and they are talking about what they will be doing. They would all like to play a game that would result in them being active but are also aware that this room isn't appropriate for it. In fact, they can all remember the time when they came upon a master scolding a youngling for disturbing the peace of this room. They all remember what they were told yesterday during their Force lessons and wonder what this will mean for the Force lessons of the coming week. Thus they start to gossip about its possible consequences.

* * *

 _"Come younglings. Before you go to the dressing room I want you to go to your place as I have an important announcement to make." Master Tunce says and the seniors hurry to do as she asks. Master Tunce has been their instructor for their Force lessons since the beginning of this year. Anakin has come to believe that you get a new instructor each time you get to a higher ranking in the order. He came to this belief because whenever they rose in their clan they would get a new instructor._

 _"Good, as you know we have spent the last month going over everything you have learned since joining the clans. I did this so that you will be able to start with a new aspect of Force use with a good basis. Does anyone have any idea which aspect this will be?" master Tunce asks the younglings before her who have been looking at her with a curious expression._

 _"Alter, master." Alara says questionable. She isn't sure that she gave the right answer and secretly hopes that she did. It is always so embarrassing to give a wrong answer._

 _"Why do you think so, Alara?" master Tunce asks. She has always preferred that her students think about every answer they gave and why it should be as they say. That is why she always asks her student to clarify their answers if they don't do so on their own. Most of the times her students clarify the answers they give to her questions but sometimes they simply forget it. She doesn't scold them about it as her fellow instructors have done so often enough in her opinion._

 _"Because it is the only aspect of the Force we haven't learned about. It would be logical that this would be the aspect we will soon be learning about." Alara answers after she has thought a few minutes about how to articulate her answers. Her face is actually flushed as she clarified her answer because she got the hint from master Tunce that she has to clarify her answers._

 _"That was well spoken, Alara. You are right that starting next week you will be learning about alter starting." master Tunce compliments and waits a few minutes to let the revelation sink in. She knows that she has to explain to them how things will be going from next week onwards. That in all takes but a few more minutes and then she lets the younglings go to the dressing room. They are in time for their next lesson with only a minute to spare and vow among each other to do everything they can to not arrive so late to a lesson ever again._

* * *

"How do you think Force training will look like tomorrow?" Zak asks. He knows as well as everyone that they will be having one day for keeping up their skill in the Force powers they already learned while spending the remainder of the days learning what they need to know of the alter aspect of the Force. At least that is how master Tunce had explained it to them. Zak feels highly excited about the prospect of starting to learn about this new aspect and can't wait for tomorrow's lesson to start. As he is among friends he is not afraid to let his excitement be felt.

"I don't know. We have to be patient as the masters always remind us to be." Shi answers calmly. Everyone knows that she is a bit of a stickler for rules but it doesn't scare the others away. They are actually glad she is so that they won't be breaking a rule so long as she is around. Also, she likes to remember everyone about what the masters always tell them to do or not to do. This habit started a few months ago and no one not even Shi know why she started doing this.

"How can you be so calm, Shi. It is always a struggle for me to stay calm when I'm not meditating. It took me a few years to learn how to be calm enough to meditate in the way the masters expect everyone to be able to. Now I only find complete calmness when I'm meditating" Anakin says. He is always busy with suppressing his emotions so as to not let others feel it and hopes that once he is accepted as a padawan that his master will be able to help him with it. He started with suppressing them when he was told yet again to keep his emotions in check and not to bother others with it.

"Well, I always accept my emotions which allows me to release them into the force. That, in turn, allows me to be calm. Master Plo Koon explained it to me like that and also helped me with learning how to do it. Do you want me to help you with it?" Shi asks. She has always liked to help her brothers and sisters with everything she can help them with just as much as she likes the rules and to remind everyone what the masters have told them.

"I would like that." Anakin answers happily. He hopes that he now doesn't have to wait until he is a padawan to learn how to release his emotions into the force. He is aware that it will take some time before he is able to do it successfully. Also, he is glad that someone wants and can help him with it just as he has helped many others during the years with their problems. Anakin finds it difficult to actually ask for help from his siblings and has been aware that that is something he has to work on for one year. He does his best but still finds it difficult to ask for help. What he does find easy is to mention his problem when a similar problem is being discussed. That has gotten him help on a few occasions already. Now he only has to work on asking on his own.

"What do you all think about our lightsaber training for the next few years?" Batom asks.

"I think it will be hard. If we have to learn the basics of three styles then we will be having to work hard. I feel we are now finishing our Shi-cho training so that we can move onto one of the other systems. We will probably be working on the basics of one style for six months as we don't have a lot more time to practise if we want to learn the basics of three styles before leaving our clan." Hoshi says. He has been thinking about it for some time and is glad that Batom brought the subject on. This made it possible for him to talk about his thoughts about it without having to breach the subject. He has actually been wondering how to breach it as he wanted to talk with his friends about it.

"I totally agree with you on that, Hoshi. But that still doesn't tell us which style we will be learning the basics of. We do know that once we leave our clan we will know the basics of the Makashi, Soseru and Ataru styles as our instructor has been telling us that. They all can be the first one and have their difficult parts as we are learning through our paper on lightsaber combat. That makes it difficult to predict which one we will be learning about first. We will just have to be patient." Batom says with a bit of disappointment showing in his voice while shrugging his shoulders.

"That is kinda annoying." Anakin says to sum the feeling up everyone is experiencing on this subject. Just then they all seem to become aware of the current time and without having to say anything to each other they hurry out of the room of a thousand fountains. They quickly make their way to the refractory to eat supper. They don't want to be too late as that will result in a scolding from one of the masters present in the refractory about why jedi are never late and it won't give off the right signal to their clan siblings if the clan leader is late. It will look like it is not bad to be late while in fact, the masters don't want the younglings to late if it can be avoided. This is something which is being pressed into them from the moment they joined the clan.

* * *

The next day they are making their way to the simulator room for their first flight simulation. Until now they have spent all the time of this class on learning the basics of ships and flight from texts. Today they will be practicing in how to fly a ship for real. They won't be allowed to go through take-off and landing procedures until they are good enough at flying a ship.

Because of all this, the seniors are highly excited as they are making their way to the simulator room while gossiping about what the first simulation flight will be like. Anakin knows full well that for him flight training is one of the best classes they have now. He really enjoys it and can't wait for the next lesson to start. Also, he knows that he will be enjoying today's flight simulation.

Once they enter the room Anakin can see that there are two simulators available and also that there are two other master present. He wonders why these masters are here. Are they to help them during their first simulation or what? Anakin has no idea and this frustrates him. Still, he tries his best to him de the feeling from the masters. He doesn't want them to catch wind of his feeling and risking a scolding about controlling his emotions.

"Good afternoon seniors. As you can see I have brought two masters here with me to today's lesson. They are here to assist me during the lesson. I can't keep my eyes on everyone so master Plo Koon and I will be supervising one of you during your first simulation while master Gallia will be helping the others with their studying. You only have eight minutes each on a simulator. I will call each of you forward to experience your simulation and I have brought some datapads with me which you will be studying when you are not taking your simulation." Their flight instructor says and then calls two younglings forward.

"Erigian, Alaara, come forward. You will be the first to take the simulation."

Erigian and Alaara step forward and follow their flight instructor and master Plo Koon to the simulator while the others go to the side of the room where the data pads are. They quietly start their studying and when they need help raise their hand to attract master Gallia's attention. When she is at the side of one of the seniors they whisper so as to not distract anyone. Still, it is possible for those closest to the senior with the question to hear everything that is being said. Also, they assist each other with their questions for as much as is possible. Through this, they limit the work master Gallic has to do and ensure that everyone understands the subjects they are studying.

Just when Anakin is deeply emerged in studying a particularly difficult part he hears their flight instructor call his and Shi's name. They both then put their datapad down, after shutting it down, on the table and move to the simulator in which they will be having their first flight simulation. Anakin is pleasingly surprised to discover that master Plo Koon will be supervising him.

Stepping close to the simulator Anakin waits for Master Plo Koon to tell him what to do. He doesn't want to rush into things as he heard from seniors from another clan not to do so. Master Plo Koon quickly helps Anakin in the simulator and explains to him what he has to do. Anakin does so and is quickly lost in the simulation until he is told that it is time for him to stop. He is actually deeply disappointed that it only lasted so short as he would have wanted to spend a lot more time in the simulator.

Then Master Plo Koon quickly goes over his simulation flight with him and he gives him feedback on what he has to think about in the future. Still, Master Plo Koon is pleasingly surprised with how good Anakin's flight skills are during his first simulation. This tells him that Anakin will be a remarkable pilot in the future as there are but few people who show such skill at such a young age. This tells him that he will have to watch Anakin as he grows older and he hopes that he'll be able to teach him a few flight tricks if his future master allows it. Master Plo Koon knows that he doesn't want to intervene in a master training their padawan if there is no good reason for it nor is it allowed for masters to do so. Once they are done Anakin goes back to studying.

* * *

The day continues relatively normal until the evening. The seniors are about to ready themselves for bed when master Nagia quickly walks into the room and beckons Anakin to her. Everyone looks at her anxiously as she is rarely so agitated nor hurried. She is always calm when she is with them. For their clan master not to be calm, it is worrisome. As such, Anakin quickly walks up to her and master Nagia says hurriedly

"Anakin, I need you to gather your fellow seniors. Together you'll be guiding your younger sibling to the hidden room I showed you last year."

"Of course master. Is there an emergency?" Anakin asks worriedly. She had told him that the hidden room is only to be used in emergencies at a master discretion. That would mean that there is an emergency but he would still like to know if there really is an emergency. From time to time they would be doing surprise drills. She always tells him that it is a drill when he asks.

"Yes. There is an emergency, Anakin. Now hurry." master Nagia answers agitatedly.

Thus Anakin gathers his fellow seniors and together they guide the remainder of the clan to the hidden room. There they wait until master Nagia comes to gather them. During the wait, they meditate, study and play together simply to forget the situation.


	13. Chapter 13

**32 BBY**

Anakin is currently leading the novices to their next test as he was done early with a test and today is the day when all the half-year tests will be taken. Master Nagia assigned him to guide the novices to their next test as he came back to the clan rooms early enough that he could do so and still be in time for his own test. It has always been the policy for juniors and seniors to return to their clan room once they are done with their test. They go to the next test together form the clan rooms. The novices, on the other hand, have to wait in the room to be picked up and guided the next test. No novice is allowed to walk around the temple unguided.

Anakin knows from his test schedule the next test will be lightsaber training. There their skills in the basics of Shien and Djem So will be tested. This means that form V will be tested as Shien and Djem So are variants of this form. Anakin really liked learning this form as he felt comfortable with it. He knows that there are many who don't like this style for they repeatedly told each other that. Just then he sees the room where the novices have their test and he pulls himself from his memories.

As they close in on the room he can feel the nervousness coming off from the novices. Anakin smiles for he remembers feeling the same kind of nervousness at their age. He also knows that they don't have the amount of training he has in shielding his emotions so he doesn't say anything about it. He stops shortly before the room and can hear the novices do the same. Turning around, Anakin says to the younglings.

"I know you are all wondering why I stopped here when we are so close to the room where you will have your test. I did this because I wanted to tell you something which I know from experience that will help you. What I want to tell you is to take a deep breath before you start. I know that the masters always tell you that but it is something which I know will help you as I said before. Now then it is time for you to make this test. Don't be afraid for I know that you can do it."

"Yes, clan leader." the younglings answer and follow Anakin into the room. Anakin then leaves and heads back to the clan rooms to wait until it is time to leave for the next test. He has to smile during his walk back as he remembers the first time that someone called him that in that way. At that time it made him really uncomfortable. That way of addressing has always been reserved for masters, Anakin thought at that time. Only after talking about it with master Nagia was Anakin able to accept it. In time that way of addressing him has become in a way normal for him. That means he doesn't feel uncomfortable with it anymore.

A few minutes later, Anakin arrives back at the clan rooms and can see that almost every senior is present in the clan's main room. This tells him that the test didn't take long and either was done really well by everyone or there are many who flunked it. Only time will tell what is right though he hopes that everyone has done well. No one likes to hear that many flunked a test.

Looking at the time, Anakin can see that they only have a few minutes left before they have to leave for their lightsaber test. He decides to quickly go over what he is supposed to know for the test. He does this more to refresh his memory than to actually learn it so shortly before taking the test. He feels that he knows everything well enough but knows that it won't hurt if he refreshes his memory. He picks up his datapad and reads his notes while regularly looking at the time to make sure that they won't be arriving for their test too late.

One minute before they have to leave Anakin puts his datapad down, stands up and claps his hand. Master Nagia had told him to use this method if he needs everyone's attention for it is the easiest way shortly after he became clan leader. Every youngling learns to respond promptly when a master claps their hands. So far Anakin experienced that it is really a good way and has come to prefer its use. All the seniors look at him instantly to see why he sought their attention after they heard him clapping. Once Anakin sees that he has everyone's attention he says

"Please put everything away. We need to leave now if we don't want to arrive to late for the test."

At once the seniors put what they were reading away and come to stand near the doorway where Anakin is also standing. No one wants to arrive too late for a test as that would mean that they will not be allowed to take the test and have to write a paper about why you shouldn't be late for an appointment and how they will ensure that it won't happen again. The test they have to redo during one of their free times. It has only happened once for some younglings from another clan. It was then that everyone agreed to do what it takes to be on time as they don't want to face it. It doesn't take long for everyone to be ready and soon they are on their way to their lightsaber test. There they arrive a few minutes before the test starts. Everyone sighs with relief and goes to their assigned place and wait for the test to begin. They are relieved that they are in time as it has come quite close to being late. Five minutes later, the test begins.

* * *

A few days later, Anakin and the other seniors are making their way to their lightsaber class. They know that they will be starting to learn the basics of Niman until this year's finals. Once their finals are over everyone knows that they will have to take their initiate trials. This causes quite some stress for everyone for they know that should they fail it they will either be assigned to the service corps or have to leave the order altogether. This is something no one wants and which is the reason for the stress everyone experiences. They all want to become knights. Being a member of the service corps is not seen as an honorable profession no matter what the master always tell them.

Soon they arrive at the lightsaber training room and they can see an unknown master standing there waiting for them. This doesn't surprise them at all as they have a different master for each form they learn. The master who teaches them the basics is always an expert in the specific form. This is done to ensure that they learn the form correctly. Something which only an expert can teach. The master that is waiting for them is a brown haired human male with a fair skin color.

"Good morning, younglings. My name is Joclad Danva and I will be teaching you the basics of Niman for the coming six months." Master Tori says.

"Good morning, master Danva." the younglings answer in unison. Master Danva smiles once and then says

"As I don't know your names I feel it would be a good idea for everyone to introduce the younglings on their right side to me. That way I will learn everyone's name and will also know a bit about you. I can't promise you that I will remember your names correctly tomorrow during our next lesson but I assure you that after a few weeks I will know them."

All the younglings groan silently as they find these kinds of introductions boring. They have done it so often that it isn't nice anymore to do these kinds of introductions. They groan silently to avoid being berated by master Danva. It wouldn't look good for them if he had to berate them during the first lesson. It won't be a good start for him to give them these lessons nor for them to receive them. Still, they do the introductions in the way he suggested. The seniors rush it as much as they can while also making sure that they satisfy the master. They want to get this done with so that they can start with their actual lesson. In the end, the introductions take about five minutes to finish and then they get some basic instructions from master Danva for these lessons. This includes the rules he has for his lessons which don't differ a lot from the rules other masters used. He also quizzes the younglings about what they know about Niman both to get a view of what they know about it and also to refresh their memory. The questions are about the things have to know to be able to learn this form to the best standards. The things they don't know Master Danva explains to them. Once this is finished the younglings can finally start to practice the opening stance for this form. They feel it has taken to long before they could start with actually practicing this form.

* * *

Later that evening some younglings of the Berguutfa clan is in the clan's main room playing, reading or talking to each other. Among them is Anakin together with his friends. They are all so emerged in what they are doing that they don't notice one of the councilors entering the room and moving towards master Nagia. Anakin does notice that master Windu is standing next to his clan master when she reaches out to him through the Force. He calmly walks up to the masters and waits for them to address him. He knows that they want to talk to him because master Nagia reached out to him.

"Anakin, I need you to go and gather the other Berguutfa's who are not in the clan main room and send them here. I have something important to tell each of you." master Windu tells Anakin.

"Of course, master. I will be as quick as I can." Anakin promises. He knows that as clan leader it is his task to gather every member of his clan when there is an announcement to be made for the entire clan.

After a quick bow, he takes a leave from the master and first goes to the archive to gather the younglings who went there and sent them back to the main room. Once he gets back there he turns to the sleeping areas and tells them to go to the main room as there is an important announcement to be made. In the end, it takes Anakin fifteen minutes to get everyone to the main room. He can see that they all are talking to each other in different areas of the room as he surveys the room. It doesn't surprise him at all for he expected everyone to cluster somewhere in the room once they got there.

"Younglings come here. Master Windu has something to tell you about the situation on Naboo. I'm sure you all have learned what has been going on there, don't you?" master Nagia asks and sees that her younglings nod in answer from where they are standing in groups. Master Windu and she wait for a few minutes to give the younglings time to gather in a half circle before them.

Once everyone has gathered before them Master Windu explains the situation on Naboo to them and what has happened there. Everyone is a bit saddened to hear that master Jinn has been killed and are shocked that a sith has shown its face. They also know that Master Jinn is a skilled lightsaber fighter and to ear that a smith has killed him is shocking. That sith has to be really skilled. Also as they believed that the sith were extinct it is scary to learn now that they are still some around. Especially the novices are scared by this news and are quick to seek safety with their older clan mates.

Then master Windu tells them that the sith who killed master Jinn has, in turn, been killed by knight Kenobi, master Jinn's former padawan. In the end, master Windu tells them that they were told all this so that they know to be careful once they are out of the temple as they don't know who is working with the sith and also for them not to talk about it to anyone who isn't a member of the order. The masters don't want this to become public knowledge and frighten the public. Anakin knows that they were not told everything in detail as older younglings would have been because the novices that are present are too young to be told such details. Looking at his friends, Anakin can tell that they also have the same opinion about master Windu's explanation.

* * *

Three months before the end of the year every senior is nervous as they know that they will soon be taking the initiate trials. To be able to support each other, everyone is busy with mentoring each other. They know that today marks the start of the initiate trials. The trials will be taking during lessons or between them. No one knows when a trail will be taken as such everyone wants to be fully prepared when they will be taken. Also, the seniors know that when two councilors come to them that it is time for one of the trials. Each trial they will be submitted to and which they succeed in will allow them to take the next. As such it is possible that someone will fail the trail early in the week. It happens to a few seniors each year and as such the Berguutfa seniors all do their utmost best to ensure that it won't be one of them who fails the trials. Concerning the date, everyone knows that it is done to ensure that everyone will be able to go on the Gathering, if they pass the trials, before the end of the year and when they will be moving into the initiate dorms.

Near the end of the week, Aliola is the first one of them to fail a trial. She is joined by Erigian not long afterward and they are the only two who fail the initiate trials. The other seniors are sad to learn that two of them won't be able to join them on the gathering and then won't be moving into the initiate dorms with them. At the same time, they are glad that they passed the initiate trials and will be able to take the next step to becoming a jedi knight. They can't wait for the gathering nor for the time when they will become initiates.


	14. Chapter 14

A few weeks after the younglings have passed the initiate trials they are making their way to the hanger. They know that today they will be going on the Gathering to find their own kyber crystal. This is something to which they have all been looking forward to ever since passing the trials. They have been wondering what the gathering will look like as no one has told them. They have been asking the older member of the order but they all refuse to tell them. They only tell them that they will find out in time. It annoys everyone to no end. They want to know what they will be facing. But as no one is willing to tell them they know that they can only wait.

Once the group reaches the hangar the younglings can see that a padawan is waiting for them. They know that this padawan will be accompanying them on this trip and also will look after them. Thus the younglings quickly go stand before her to hear what she has to tell them. They can also see a ship standing behind her. The ship has its boarding ramp lowered so that they can all quickly get onboard and leave once they are ready. This all reminds them that this will be their first trip of Coruscant. This is a prospect which excites all the younglings immensely while also filling them with nerves. They don't know how a real space trip will feel like. They only ever have had simulator trips. So they don't know exactly what to expect.

"Good morning, everyone. I know you are all excited about the upcoming Gathering which I can totally understand. I have once been in the same situation as you are. So if you have any questions feel free to ask me once we are in hyperspace." padawan Muln tells them and waits for a few seconds before continuing.

"As you have all passed your initiate trials you can finally take part in the Gathering. There is no greater honor or challenge a youngling will ever face."

Then padawan Muln waits for a few minutes to let his words sink into the younglings before him. Once this time is over he says.

"Alright, now let's get on board. You don't want to delay the Gathering, do you?"

"No, padawan Muln." the group answers and quickly follows the padawan onboard the ship. Soon they are on their way to Ilum and their upcoming Gathering.

* * *

One day later they are about to land on Ilum and the younglings are busy putting on their winter clothing. Padawan Muln told them to put those clothes on when he came back from his quarters in those clothing. At that time the younglings were quite confused. They had taken those clothes with them but didn't know why they needed it. It confused them until padawan Muln told them to take those clothes on and wait for him near the boarding ramp. Once they are done, the younglings make their way to the place they agreed to meet padawan Muln.

The younglings are waiting there for a few minutes when padawan Muln arrives and lowers the boarding ramp. It is then that the cold air of Ilum strikes the younglings in their faces. Even though they are wearing winter clothing they all shiver. They are not looking forward to spending a long time in the freezing cold they can feel. They dutifully follow padawan Muln out of the ship towards a large ice wall. Padawan Muln stops before the wall and turns to them.

"Alright, younglings. We are now at the entrance of the temple." padawan Muln says. He looks the younglings straight in the eye when he talks and can see the confusion there so he asks.

"What is on your mind, younglings?"

"How can we be at the entrance of the temple when all we can see is a wall of ice. " Inulu asks confused and slightly irritated. She manages to fully cover it up if not for her voice. That gives her irritation clearly away. Still, she perfectly voices the question that is on everyone's mind. The younglings are even more confused when they see a smile forming on padawan Muln's face. They wonder why he has to smile as they can't find a reason to do so.

"That will be the first part of the Gathering, younglings. We need to work together to clear the entrance so that we can enter." padawan Muln tells the younglings and waits a bit to see what kind of reaction he will get from the younglings. It doesn't take long for eager expressions to appear on the faces of the younglings. This amuses him immensely for he totally understands this behavior. He believes that his friends and he had such a reaction when they were the younglings' age.

"Shall we?" padawan Muln asks and after receiving nods from the younglings he turns around. Together with the younglings, the wall of ice is quickly cleared away and they can finally enter the temple.

* * *

When the group enters the main room of the temple they can see master Giiet meditating there. Padawan Munl guides them towards the master who opens his eyes once the younglings stand before him. Master Giiet looks all the younglings in the eye before standing up and saying.

"Welcome, younglings to the next part of the Gathering. You have come here to this place to find your kyber crystal. This crystal will be the heart of your lightsaber. That means that you will have to be careful in choosing the crystal and you need to listen to what the Force is telling you. Do you understand, younglings?"

"Yes, master." The younglings answers. Nodding in answer master Giiet continues.

"Soon the sun will rise and melt the ice and you can enter the caves to look for your crystal. Once you enter the caves you need to remember that you have till sunset to return here or else you will be stuck inside the caves. It is then that the sun will go down and the ice will return. The entrance will then once again be blocked by ice."

Just when master Giiet is finished the sun lights up the crystal at the ceiling and the ice melts away. With a look at master Giiet the younglings enter the caves together and start to look their own kyber crystal. During the time the younglings are in the caves they are all tested and once they pass the test their crystal lights up.

Anakin is tested by the caves on his ability to let go for he finds it difficult to let things out of his hands. He wants to be able to control things for then he won't feel like he could have done something about it. This is also represented by his troubles with patience. He wants to know everything so that he can help everyone and doesn't have to tell them that he can't help them.

Anakin leaves the caves only seconds before the entrance is once again blocked by ice. He heaves a deep breath in relief that he isn't stuck inside the caves until the ice melts again. He doubts that he would survive that. Not that he believes that master Giiett would leave him behind to his death. Once he has found his breath again he can hear the cheers from his clan mates. Looking up at his siblings Anakin smiles and walks up to master Giiet. He shows the master the crystal he found which is colored blue.

"A blue crystal, Anakin. Do you know the significance of the color is?" Master Giiet asks.

"No master. I don't know for we were never told anything about the significance of the colors of kyber crystals nor has it shown up in any of our research" Anakin answers the master honestly. He is surprised that the master begins with this subject as he doesn't believe that they have to know this. It confuses him and he can feel the slight confusion from his clan mates. This tells him that they are all quite confused. Only a slight confusion will be detectable when there is a large amount of confusion. This all shows to masters that they can keep their emotions under control when they have to.

"Well, this is something which we don't officially adhere to anymore. Still, it shows its importance as the younglings who find blue kyber crystal normally take the path of the Guardian and prefer to use the Force on a physical level. Who else has a blue crystal?" Master Giiet asks. At that Batom and Hoshi raise their hand.

"And who has a green crystal?" Master Giiet asks and sees three hands come up. These hands belong to Shi, Jicho, and Alaara.

"Green crystals normally belong to those who take up the path of a Consular. They normally prefer to reflect on the mysteries of the Force and fight that dark side at its heart. In other words, they prefer to use the Force subtly. Inulu, Zak, did you find a yellow crystal?" Master Giiet asks the two younglings who haven't raised their hands before. At their nod he says.

"Yellow crystals normally belong to Sentinels as they hone their skills in a balance of combat and scholarly pursuits. It is a path which few take as compared to the path of Guardian and Consular. There are also the rare purple crystals and extremely rare white crystals. Purple indicates a balance in the person between the light side and the dark side. White comes from healing a crystal infected by the dark side. A task not recommended by anyone as it can be very dangerous."

When Anakin takes each of their preferences in mind he can find that what they were told about the colors of the crystals applies to each of them. It surprises him greatly that the masters don't adhere to it anymore. Still, it tells him that the colors are still important to tell the path one will most likely take once they are knighted.

"Now, let us get back to the ship so that we can return to the temple. During the trip, you will all be making your own lightsaber for which you will from then on be responsible." Padawan Muln says.

It is then that the group leaves the temple and heads back to the ship. Everyone is excited about the prospect of making their own lightsaber and can't wait to start. Once the ship has entered hyperspace do the younglings finally get the final instructions for constructing their own lightsaber.

During the construction, Anakin learns that he has to be calm as otherwise, it will be difficult for him to build his lightsaber with the force. He isn't able to get everything aligned correctly. Master Huyang is quick to remind him of it when he offers his lightsaber to him for inspection. He is really strict in how the lightsabers should be constructed for if not they can be highly dangerous for the person holding or using them. In the end, he does manage to get his lightsaber through master Huyang inspection for which he is grateful. He is incredibly happy to have constructed his first lightsaber as he knows that he will most likely make more of them in the future. Anakin then looks around to see what he can do and how far his clan mates are with their lightsaber. He can see that most have also not yet finished their lightsaber but are almost finished. Alaara he sees has difficulties so he walks up to her to see if he can aide her. With his aide, she manages to finish her lightsaber not long after everyone else does. Anakin's aide was, in fact, nothing more than advice and telling her how he made his.

* * *

A few days later, Anakin and his clan mates are packing their stuff together for the move to the initiate dorm. Anakin knows that none of the seniors like having to leave the Berguutfa clan. Each of them has liked their stay in the clans immensely. Still, they know better than to get attached so they do not grieve for the upcoming leave. That doesn't mean that they will not miss the clans. They all are confident that they will also soon like the initiate dorms. This morning they said goodbye to the clans in a private ceremony with only their clan members being present. This afternoon will be spent on the move and in the evening they will be given their new schedule by one of the initiate masters.

Twenty minutes later the seniors have finished packing and are waiting in the main room for the time when they will leave the Berguutfa dorm. Anakin checks the time and when it is almost time he can see master Nagia walking up to them. He was about to tell his siblings that it is almost time to leave.

"Younglings, I want to say my final goodbye to you just before you will leave. I want you to do your best in the coming years and I hope that each of you will be able to find a master before your thirteenth birthday. Know that from this moment on you will all be jedi initiates. So, initiates go to your new dorm and may the Force be with you." Master Nagia tells them.

Thus the initiates leave the Berguutfa dorms while master Nagia watches them leave and move to their new dorm. The remainder of the afternoon they spend on readying their private area in the sleeping halls. This exists out of a bed, closets, bureau, and chair. The males and females are split up as they have their own sleeping hall. After supper, master Exal, one of the initiate masters, calls the new initiates to her and gives each of them a datacard with their new schedule. They know that not everyone will have their lessons in the same room so Anakin and his friends are quick to compare their schedule to see if they will have their lessons in the same room. It turns out that they are in luck as they have the exact same schedule. In the morning they have Force and lightsaber training as they are used to having. In the afternoon they have astrophysics, galactic relations and communication, hyperspace theory and galactic basic standard. These new classes promise to become challenging. In the evening they have physical training and mechanics and coding.

Anakin knows that he is looking forward to two challenging classes and also to mechanics and coding while he is not looking forward to galactic relations and communication. He believes that that will be a truly boring class and because he never had a feeling for these kinds of subjects. He spends the remainder of the evening talking with his friends and comparing the expectations they have of their new classes. They differ a bit or greatly depending on the person. When it is time for them to ready themselves for bed, he and his friends prepare themselves and go excitingly to bed. They can't wait for tomorrow to start.


	15. Chapter 15

30 BBY

Anakin and his friends are preparing themselves for their second tournament. They are all excited about this and hope to attract the attention of a master. Not that they have an urgent need to find a master. They have one more year to find one and feel confident that they will find one before their thirteenth birthday. This means that they can enter the tournament with ease while those who need to find a master soon will be on edge. They will not have much time left before they need to have a master or they will also be leaving for the corps. Anakin doesn't like for that to happen as he saw the expression on Erigian's and Alaara's face when they were about to leave for the corps two days before everyone else moved into the initiate dorm.

* * *

 _The day Alaara and Erigian get word that their transport will be leaving in the afternoon the mood in the sleeping hall is depressing. That massage made it become real to them that they will never become jedi. They were told to pack their belongings now so that they can go to the hangar after dinner which they are currently doing. During the packing the distress they feel increases._

 _Anakin looks at the situation from across the room. He doesn't say anything because he knows that there is nothing he can do or say that will ease their distress. He knows that they are distressed for Erigian is rubbing the nape of his neck while Alaara has her shoulders slumped. She never does that for she is a confident girl and only shows such submissive signs when she is deeply distressed. Anakin learned that when they were still novices. He feels pity for both of them as he would have liked for them to have passed their trials. No one wants to see someone they have lived with for a long time fail an important test._

 _Looking around the room, Anakin tries to determine what everyone else thoughts are about the situation before them and if they have come to the same conclusion as he has. From the looks on their faces, Anakin gets the impression that they have come to the same conclusion as him. No one is crying for they know to keep their emotions under control. Also, they don't want to add to the distress of Alaara and Erigian._

 _Five minutes later, the seniors leave for the refractory and afterward say goodbye to their siblings. The goodbye is also a sad occurrence for everyone struggles to keep their emotions under control. They don't want to say goodbye to any one of them. They know that they will miss each other a lot. Anakin manages to control his emotions just barely while he can see that there are others who have even more problems than he has. These younglings are the friends of Alaara and Erigian who are at the brink of crying._

* * *

"Anakin, Anakin." Shi is saying while waving a hand before Anakin's eyes. She needs to draw his attention to her for they need to leave.

"Yes, Shi. What is it?" Anakin asks and looks to see what time it is. When he sees the time he knows why Shi has been calling him. They need to leave for the tournament right away or else they will be late. They have no intention of getting scolded by the masters present.

"We need to leave now if we are to be on time. You normally never leave so late when we have to be somewhere. What is on your mind that you forgot the time?" Shi says as they walk out of the initiate dorm. She is highly confused by this as normally Anakin is the one to remind everyone that they have to leave. For someone to have to remind him it is strange. Shi thinks that he has something on his mind and wants to help him sort it out.

"I was thinking about the day Alaara and Erigian left for the corps." Anakin answers and can see the shocked expression on Shi's face. He knows thus that she is confused and can predict what she will ask him now.

"Why were you thinking about that? We were not really close to them." Shi knows that this is true as they normally didn't spend a lot of time with Alaara or Erigian. They had other friends with whom they spend their time outside of classes. It doesn't at up at all and confuses her, even more, the longer she thinks about it.

"I know. I had to think about it as I remembered that there will be initiates present who need to find a master soon. If they don't then they will have to leave for the corps. They won't like it and I don't like it also. This prospect reminded me of the day Alaara and Erigian left for the corps." Anakin explains. He knows that there is nothing he can do about the rules of the order as he isn't a member of the high council. Most likely it will be dozens of years before he could be appointed to the council. Becoming a member of the high council is his goal for the future.

"We both know that we can't change the rules, Anakin." Shi tells him but also knows that it is actually unnecessary to remind Anakin off. She knows that he knows that they can't do anything about the rules. No matter how unfair the rules can be in their opinion. They are silent for the remainder of the way. When they come upon the combat training room they can tell from the sounds coming from it that the room is already crowded. This tells them that there are already many people present. It makes them hurry for they don't want to be late and make a bad impression on the masters present. They quietly slip into the room and are relieved when they notice that they are not the last ones to arrive nor too late. They move to where the other initiates are and wait for the tournament to start.

Twenty minutes later, the tournament finally starts. During the course of the rounds, the competition is high as there are plenty of people who want to show off their skills so as to attract a master's attention. They want one of the masters to choose them so that they can continue their training. Those who are in dire need to find a master give off a bit of a desperate feeling which Anakin can detect. He isn't quite sure if the masters can also feel it but hopes for those initiates that they don't. These kind of feeling are not the ones masters will appreciate. Those who are participating for the first time are a bit nervous as they don't know what to expect from today. Near the end of today they know what to expect and next time they will enter the tournament with confidence that they know what they have to do. It is the thing Anakin and his age mates are doing right now.

Anakin manages to get through each round which changing difficulty because some are more skilled than others. He is one of the two who manages to make the final round. The other youngling is Boster. Anakin knows him from passing and his interaction with the instructors during classes. They never spend time together as they come from different clans and thus Anakin doesn't know anything about his personality. The thing he knows is that Boster needs to find a master soon. He is nearly thirteen years old and thus in danger of being reassigned to the corpses. This tells Anakin that he could be a bit desperate. If he can keep his cool then Anakin knows he has a chance of winning the last match of the tournament.

The match takes a long time as both Boster and he are matched to each other. It is difficult to score a point for both of them. Near the end of the match, it is difficult to say who will win as they are both getting tired but still do their best to not give the other a chance to score. At the same time, they also aim to score the last point they need to finish this match. They both have two points and whoever manages to score a point now will be proclaimed the winner of this match and of the tournament. An honor they both want to receive as it will ensure that they will find a master. Not that the second place is a bad spot to be in. That person also nearly always will be able to find a master. Thus Anakin believes that whoever wins this match doesn't matter too much as they will both be able to find a master to continue their training.

Anakin is currently focusing on blocking Boster's strikes so as to not let him win when he sees a small opening in Boster's defense. He quickly takes the opportunity that presents itself and manages to score the third point. It is then that the master who is overseeing the match calls an end to it. Anakin and Boster bow to each other before Anakin offers his hand.

"It was a good match, Boster. I hope you will find a master soon" Anakin tells Boster once they are shaking hands. This is expected of them to show respect to the one who you were fighting.

"I agree. It was a good match and I hope you will do the same" Boster says.

Afterward, the three best younglings receive their tournament belts. These belts show to everyone that they performed the best during this year's tournament. Once this is done Anakin joins his friends who all congratulate him on his victory. He is happy to have all the formalities behind him and his friends tell him about the masters who they saw were watching him during the matches. Among them are Master Plo Koon, Master Windu, and Master Kenobi. These masters they recognized as they had interactions with them before but there were also plenty of masters who were watching him who they didn't recognize. Anakin isn't quite sure which master he prefers as he likes all three of the masters. Of those, his friends don't recognize he can't say anything because he doesn't know them. Thus Anakin hopes that in the end, he doesn't have to make a choice between the masters. That is something which he knows he will not like at all. Anakin and his friends are in a deep discussion about the masters who were watching him when he notices that someone has come to stand behind him. He looks behind himself and can see that master Kenobi is standing there.

"Anakin, can I talk to you for a moment?" master Kenobi asks and waits for Anakin to answer him.

"Of course, Master Kenobi." Anakin answers nervously. He has a feeling what will be coming now as his friends told him that Master Kenobi has had an interest in him during the tournament.

Together they walk a bit away from everyone else so that they will have some privacy to talk. Once there Anakin looks expectantly at the master as he wants to know what the master wants to talk about. In fact, he wants to get his suspicion confirmed. He can tell that the master is nervous even though he tries to hide it with all his might. He bases this on the behavior Master Kenobi is showing. He has to pay close attention to the master to even be able to see it for the master is really good at hiding it. This impresses Anakin a lot and makes him hope that he will be able to do the same when he is as old as the master is at this time. That will take a lot of training and experience in Anakin's opinion. He hopes he will get it from his future master. Anakin suspects that master Kenobi might be his future master. They had a connection whenever they interacted in the past.

"Anakin, the skills you showed during the course of the tournament gave a good impression of how your skills will be once you are fully trained. I noticed that as well as plenty of other masters. I would like to ask you to consider accepting me as your master because I feel we will make a good team and I will be able to teach you a lot. I make this assumption based on our previous interactions when I guided your previous clan. What do you think? Will you accept me as your master and become my padawan?" Master Kenobi asks Anakin while looking him calmly into the eye.

"Well master, if you put it like that I need to think for a moment!" Anakin says and pretends to carefully think about master Kenobi's proposal while he, in fact, already knows what his answer will be. He will accept the proposal master Kenobi made him. That doesn't mean that he doesn't take the opportunity that presents itself to tease master Kenobi while also letting him sweat a bit. Anakin dares to do this because he knows that this will amuse master Kenobi later on.

After a short while, he looks at master Kenobi who he sees is watching him attentively. Anakin has the impression that master Kenobi is waiting anxiously for an answer. Smiling reassuringly at the master Anakin says.

"Master Kenobi, I want to thank you for this offer. I'm happy to tell you that I will accept it."

"I'm relieved by your answer, initiate. Now, I think it is time for you to go to one of the chapels for the traditional meditation. Tomorrow morning I will come and pick you up. Together we will make our way to the council room and inform them of our decision. They will most certainly accept it." Master Kenobi says.

Thus Anakin goes to one of the chapels after he informs his friends that he has found a master and spends the remainder of the day in meditation. The next day in the early morning, master Kenobi comes to get him and together they make their way to the council room. There master Kenobi informs the council about his decision to take Anakin as his padawan and of Anakin's acceptation of his offer. The council looks at each other shortly before master Windu tells them that the council accepts their decision. From that day on they are a master-padawan team and a new chapter of their life begins.


End file.
